VZCZCXRO2842
OO RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #2187/01 3361049
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 011049Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0852
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS IMMEDIATE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 5683
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 3352
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 1462
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 2469
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 5181
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 2790
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 3299
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 3139
RUEHBAD/AMCONSUL PERTH 1311
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 JAKARTA 002187 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP, EAP/MLS, EAP/MTS, EAP/RSP 
NSC FOR E.PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/01/2018 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ASEAN ID TH
SUBJECT: ASEAN SUMMIT -- INDONESIAN AND SECRETARIAT VIEWS 
 
REF: A. STATE 123211 
     ¶B. JAKARTA 2170 
     ¶C. BANGKOK 3491 
 
Classified By: A/Pol/C Stanley Harsha, reasons 1.4 (b+d). 
 
¶1.  (C) SUMMARY:  Indonesian Government and ASEAN Secretariat 
officials say it is increasingly likely that the upcoming 
ASEAN Summit and related meetings will be postponed due to 
the political standoff in Thailand.  If the situation in 
Thailand is not resolved, one possibility under discussion is 
to hold the summits at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta in 
late January. 
 
¶2.  (C) SUMMARY (Con'd):  Despite the possible postponement, 
officials are preparing for Summit discussions on democracy 
and human rights, Burma, and various economic agreements. 
Secretariat officials expect their operations to expand to 
cope with the new demands of building a ASEAN Community.  END 
SUMMARY 
 
SUMMITS MAY BE POSTPONED 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Per Ref A request, Mission officers engaged 
Indonesian Government and ASEAN Secretariat officials 
regarding the upcoming ASEAN Summit and related meetings. 
ASEAN Secretariat officials told us they expected the 
Government of Thailand to postpone the ASEAN Summit due to 
the ongoing political stalemate in Bangkok.  ASEAN would 
formally inform dialogue partners of the final decision in 
the coming days, perhaps as early as December 2, Secretariat 
officials said. 
 
¶4.  (C) GOI officials agreed the summits were likely to be 
postponed.  George Lantu, Deputy Director for ASEAN Political 
and Security Cooperation at the Department of Foreign Affairs 
(DEPLU), said GOI officials had been unable to travel to 
Thailand for pre-summit meetings because of the closure of 
key Thai airports.  They noted that ASEAN Secretariat 
officials also had been unable to travel to Thailand.  Lantu 
said Indonesia expected the meetings to occur in January or 
March, 2009.  (Note:  Under the Charter, ASEAN should hold 
two summits per year.  It is unclear whether a rescheduled 
summit would take the place of one of those slated for 2009 
or whether there would be three summits that year.) 
 
¶5.  (C) Lantu said that, if the situation in Thailand 
remained unresolved, one option under discussion was to hold 
the summits at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta.  However, he 
cautioned, this could not occur before late January, given 
the preparatory work needed.  Until the summit's postponement 
is formally announced, GOI officials will continue to prepare 
for the meetings as currently scheduled. 
 
ENTHUSIASM FOR U.S. PRESENCE 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Indonesian officials praised the decision to name 
EAP DAS Scot Marciel Ambassador for ASEAN Affairs.  They also 
welcomed Ambassador Marciel's attendance at the upcoming 
meetings and said this would do much to help dispel the view 
that the U.S. was not engaged with ASEAN. 
 
DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS AT CENTER STAGE 
 
¶7.  (C) Indonesian officials believe the inclusion of the 
ASEAN Human Rights Body (AHRB) in the Charter is a 
significant achievement.  They said Indonesia had pushed hard 
for this but that the body had fallen short of what it 
wanted, particularly regarding monitoring and enforcement 
mechanism.  This, Lantu explained, was because of the need to 
accommodate other member states' sensitivities.  Indonesia 
would continue to press for these issues through a high-level 
panel which continues to discuss the Terms of Reference (TOR) 
for the human rights body, he said. 
 
¶8.  (C) Secretariat officials agreed that approval of the TOR 
would take some time.  Dr. Termsak Chalermpalanupap, Senior 
 
JAKARTA 00002187  002 OF 003 
 
 
Advisor to the Secretary General, noted that a high level 
panel was in the process of finalizing the terms of reference 
(TOR) for the AHRB, which would be reviewed by the ASEAN 
Foreign Ministers on the margins of the ASEAN Summit.  The 
final draft of the TOR would be submitted to the Foreign 
Ministers for consideration in 2009.  DEPLU officials said 
they expected approval of the TOR at the July ASEAN 
Ministerial Meeting. 
 
¶9.  (C) Given the large disparity in views on human rights, 
the AHRB will focus primarily on the general promotion of 
human rights during its initial phase, according to Dr. 
Termsak.  The limited scope of the AHRB has prompted 
Secretary General Surin to propose creating an ASEAN Human 
Rights Centre, to work in parallel with the official AHRB, 
providing ideas on more controversial human rights issues and 
policy advice.  The center is expected to be formed in 
Jakarta, most likely in conjunction with the University of 
Indonesia, given Indonesia's leadership on human rights 
issues within ASEAN, according to Mr. Termsak.  The ASEAN 
Secretariat has approached the ASEAN-U.S. Technical 
Assistance and Training Facility to assist with the 
development of the ASEAN Human Rights Centre. 
 
BURMA ALSO ON THE AGENDA 
 
¶10.  (C) DEPLU interlocutors expect Burma to feature in the 
upcoming ASEAN summit agenda.  Regarding a possible 
statement, Lantu said Indonesia would push for "not less than 
was in last year's statement" on the matter.  He cautioned, 
however, that, given the sensitivity of this issue for some 
ASEAN member states, Indonesia did not expect the 
organization to take a tougher line on Burma.  As a result, 
the GOI preferred to focus on using the upcoming Bali 
Democracy Forum (BDF) to raise democracy issues with Burma 
(see Ref B).  Lantu opined that Burma's decision to attend 
the BDF was a step forward.  Their participation would give 
Indonesia an opportunity to share the experiences of its own 
democratization process with the Burmese. 
 
¶11.  (C) Parliamentarians plan to push for a tougher approach 
on this issue.  Djoko Susilo, a member of the House of 
Representatives (DRP) Burma Caucus, told us that legislators 
would press the GOI if the AHRB TOR was too weak.  They hoped 
the document would grant the body the power to sanction Burma 
or other member states that flouted the Charter's provisions 
on human rights and democracy.  Susilo said he planned to 
take the case for a stronger AHRB to the Indonesian media in 
order to influence senior GOI officials. 
 
ECONOMIC INITIATIVES 
 
¶12.  (C) GOI interlocutors said they would support efforts to 
finalize the Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI)--a currency swap 
arrangement created during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. 
Benyamin Carnadi, DEPLU's Deputy Director for ASEAN Economic 
Cooperation, said the CMI would help regional economies deal 
with the current global financial crisis. 
 
¶13.  (C)  DEPLU officials reiterated Indonesia's support for 
the creation of a single ASEAN market and the various free 
trade deals to be signed at the summit.  They said that 
Health Minister Supari's recent negative comments about the 
single market did not represent GOI policy.  (Note: Supari 
has criticized the ASEAN single market because it would allow 
competition in the health sector.)   Our interlocutors 
underscored Indonesian support for the various economic 
agreements listed in Ref C. 
 
POST-SUMMIT COMMUNITY BUILDING A PRIORITY 
 
¶14.  (C) For Indonesia, the major achievement of the ASEAN 
summit will be the likely adoption of the ASEAN 
Political/Security Blueprint and the ASEAN Social/Cultural 
Blueprint.  These documents, still under discussion among 
member states, will translate the Charter's goals into a 
specific policy mechanism.  Citing the ongoing nature of the 
 
JAKARTA 00002187  003 OF 003 
 
 
negotiations, neither Lantu nor Carnadi provided much detail 
about the blueprints.  They agreed that Indonesia was so far 
satisfied with the negation process and the likely outcome 
documents. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Secretariat official Termsak told us the upcoming 
ASEAN Summit and the ASEAN Charter entering into force would 
mark a shift in ASEAN's focus, moving from policy 
coordination toward community building.  ASEAN's activities 
would increasingly center on capacity-building among member 
countries, to ensure rapid economic and social integration. 
However, Dr. Termsak and other ASEAN Secretariat Officials 
have warned observers not to expect a sudden, wholesale 
change in the way ASEAN operates.  In an effort to more 
effectively manage the economic integration process, ASEAN 
plans to form a Committee of the Whole (COW), which will 
consist of the senior officials from all of ASEAN's economic 
sectoral bodies, including trade, finance, transportation, 
telecommunications and energy.  The COW will provide ASEAN 
with a mechanism to coordinate and prioritize the blueprint 
implementation process across sectors and member countries. 
 
¶16.  (SBU) The shift to community building is expected to 
increase the mandate of the ASEAN Secretariat markedly.  The 
Secretariat is in the process of a large-scale 
reorganization, which includes the addition of two new Deputy 
Secretaries General and the hiring of 70 additional staff 
members.  The Secretariat has also proposed to member 
countries a near doubling of its annual operating budget, 
from $9 million to $17 million.  The ASEAN Charter retains an 
equal dues structure, so each member country would be 
required to contribute $1.7 million per year if the budget is 
approved.  The reorganization of the Secretariat includes the 
creation of a legal services division to assist with the 
interpretation and enforcement of ASEAN agreements in the 
future.  The Secretariat has also proposed creating a 
macroeconomic and financial sector surveillance unit to 
assist member countries in financial system monitoring and to 
help guide regional economic policy decisions. 
HUME