Cablegate: Rep. Faleomavaega Meets with President Yudhoyono

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PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #1874/01 1920021
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 110021Z JUL 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5362
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 0883
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY PRIORITY 3354
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0578
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 1575
RHHJJPI/USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001874

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

H FOR KAREN GATZ

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM ID PREL KDEM EAID
SUBJECT: REP. FALEOMAVAEGA MEETS WITH PRESIDENT YUDHOYONO

REF: A) JAKARTA 1266 B) JAKARTA 852 C) JAKARTA 291

JAKARTA 00001874 001.2 OF 002

1. Summary. During a July 3-6 visit to Jakarta, Rep. Eni
Faleomavaega met with the President, Vice President and the
Foreign Minister, receiving promises from all three that he
could go to Papua the next time he visits Indonesia, despite
being refused permission on this trip. President Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono told the Democratic representative from
American Samoa that the old ways of using military means to
solve issues in Papua have failed, and that his government's
"New Deal" for Papua emphasizes "soft power" based on
democratic values, rule of law and respect for human rights,
as well as adequate funding to fight poverty. Faleomavaega
replied that he believes the GOI is committed to helping the
Papuan people. Faleomavaega's willingness to come to Jakarta
and listen to the leadership's Papua policy has built
considerable goodwill that will ease future Congressional
entre to that politically sensitive region. End Summary.

2. (SBU) Rep. Eni Faleomavaega visited Jakarta July 3-6 to
meet with senior government officials and Papuan civil
society leaders (see septel on meetings with Papuans),
following the GOI's refusal to allow him to visit Papua on
this trip. President Yudhoyono, Vice President Kalla and
Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda all promised Faleomavaega
that he could visit Papua the next time he comes to
Indonesia. The DCM, a PolOff and members of Faleomavaega's
staff also attended all official meetings. According to
foreign ministry sources, the Foreign Minister supported
Faleomavaega's visiting Papua, and the President was leaning
in that direction, when members of a separatist movement in
Maluku displayed a pro-separatist flag in front of the
President during his visit to Ambon on June 29. This
incident heightened sensitivities towards separatist
movements at the precise moment the President was weighing
whether to allow Faleomavaega to visit Papua. At the same
time, from July 2-6 in Jayapura, Papua, the Papuan Customary
Council was holding a Papua-wide regional congress, with
hundreds of pro-separatist village leaders gathered in
Jayapura. Skittishness by security officials in Papua over
the proposed timing of Faleomavaega visit, coupled with the
Maluku flag incident which greatly embarrassed Yudhoyono,
made it impossible for the President to grant permission at
that time, GOI sources told us. Nevertheless, the GOI
apologized to Faleomavaega for denying his request, granting
him high-level meetings and allowing some civil society
leaders to come to Jakarta to meet with him.

3. In a July 6 meeting, Vice President Kalla went so far as
to promise to accompany Faleomavaega to Papua the "next time"
he visits, and shook hands on the promise. However, Kalla
also started off the meeting stating that he is concerned by
past statements by some members of the U.S. Congress that
could be construed as advocating separatism in Papua.
Faleomavaega responded by saying he hopes to dispel the
notion that he is trying to cause any friction between the
U.S. and Indonesia, and that he appreciates efforts by the
Yudhoyono administration to resolve issues in Papua.
Following the meeting, Kalla reportedly told the media that
he asked Faleomavaega not to interfere with Indonesia's
internal affairs, including Papua, telling the media, "If an
Indonesian parliament member went to Hawaii and asked the
Hawaiians to separate from the U.S., the person could be
arrested," according to newspaper reports. Besides the
governors of Papua and West Papua, others who attended the
meeting included the Coordinating Minister for Security,
Political and Law Affairs Widodo, (whose ministry has opposed
the Papuan visit), Minister of Fisheries Freddy Numberi (a
Papuan), the Foreign Minister, the State Secretary and the
Cabinet Secretary.

4. During his July 5 meeting with Faleomavaega, the
President told Faleomavaega that his government is
implementing a "New Deal" to speed up economic development in
Papua, outlining the Presidential Decree he issued a few
weeks ago mandating increased food production, better
education, improved health services, better transportation to
remote areas and affirmative action for Papuans in local and
national government. The President also emphasized that the
old ways of using "hard" power to deal with Papua had failed,
and have been replaced with "soft power" based on "democratic
values, rule of law and respect for human rights." The
military cannot be the solution, Yudhoyono said, noting that
even though he is a top former military commander, as
President he led the successful peace process in Aceh at a

JAKARTA 00001874 002.2 OF 002

time when it was "unthinkable" to deal with separatists in
any way other than to crush them. The President asserted
that his government is addressing past human rights abuses by
the military in Papua, and that in addition to military
reform, soldiers are increasingly respectful of human rights.
He added that "accidents" still occur which disrupt the
process of solving Papua's problems and that military reform
must continue.

5. The President also said that under Special Autonomy,
Papuans are being given a freer hand to solve their own
problems, noting the presence in the meeting of Papuan
Governor Barnabas Suebu and West Papua Governor Abraham
Ataruri, who had both just flown in from Papua expressly to
meet with Faleomavaega. The President claimed that the GOI
is sending more funding to Papua than it is receiving in
revenues: $840 million in funding versus $230 in revenues in
2005; $1.9 billion versus $420 million in 2006; and $2.3
billion in funding budgeted for 2007. While this funding is
not enough to solve Papua's deep-rooted problems, Papua's
2.5 million people do receive the highest per capita
assistance in Indonesia, the President claimed.

6. Explaining how his interest in Papua stems from the fact
that members of his family were missionaries in Papua about a
hundred years ago, Faleomavaega thanked the President for his
leadership and commitment to the Papuan people. Faleomavaega
said the USG also has resources to help Papua, adding that
Freeport might be used as a partner in building
infrastructure.

7. Faleomavaega also told the President and other senior
officials that Indonesia, as a moderate, democratic nation,
has a critical role to play in relating to other Muslim
nations, particularly since it is the world's largest Muslim
nation and has the world's fourth largest population. The
Congressman also asked for Indonesia's help in finding a
solution for the situation in Iraq. He expressed hope that
the U.S. and Indonesia, along with other moderate Muslim
countries, could continue to live together in harmony.

8. At a press conference following the meeting, Presidential
foreign affairs advisor Dino Djalal described the meeting as
very warm, "an extraordinary one, one of the most
extraordinary meetings" the President has had. The meeting
got extensive television and print media coverage.

9. (SBU) Rep. Faleomavaega gave permission for Embassy
Jakarta to send this cable without his clearance.

HUME

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