RI should check fine print before pursuing demands for Sweden, UN<\/p>\n
Kornelius Purba, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta,
\nkorpur@yahoo.com<\/p>\n
The Swedish Embassy in Jakarta slapped the Indonesian Cabinet
\nin the face on Monday with its decision to close its doors
\nindefinitely, while the Cabinet was still busy threatening the
\nSwedish government for its reluctance to take legal action,
\nincluding extradition to Indonesia, against Free Aceh Movement
\n(GAM) leaders there. The leaders, including GAM's supreme leader
\nHasan Tiro, came to Stockholm in 1979 as political refugees and
\nare now Swedish citizens.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, the Cabinet also disclosed that it was
\nconsidering asking the United Nations to include GAM on its list
\nof terrorist groups. Can we convince the UN that GAM should be
\nput on the same list as al-Qaeda?<\/p>\n
Citing threats against Swedish citizens and Swedish interests,
\nthe Swedish Embassy in Jakarta announced on its webpage that \"the
\nembassy will remain closed until further notice\".<\/p>\n
A Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman told the Agence France
\nPresse, \"We have no information on what kind of threat (was
\nreceived by the embassy).\"<\/p>\n
On the same day as the embassy closure, Indonesian Minister of
\nForeign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda announced that the government
\nwould give Stockholm another chance to meet Jakarta's demand for
\nlegal action against the GAM leaders. He said Jakarta would send
\nformer minister of foreign affairs Ali Alatas to Stockholm to
\nprovide the Swedish government with evidence of crimes committed
\nby the GAM leaders.<\/p>\n
The government delayed its own May 31 deadline for Stockholm,
\na clear sign that the Cabinet was not fully united in the
\ndecision.<\/p>\n
In a conversation with The Jakarta Post on Thursday, Swedish
\nenvoy to Indonesia Harald Sandberg reiterated that there was not
\nyet proof that the GAM leaders had violated the laws of his
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has the right to maintain the unitary state of
\nIndonesia, and there is no question about its authority to take
\nlegal action against anyone who commits crimes that could
\nendanger that unity.<\/p>\n
After declaring war against GAM on May 29, the government is
\nstepping up the campaign to punish Hasan Tiro and other GAM
\nleaders. Many officials here have warned that Sweden will face
\nsevere consequences if it fails to act against the rebels.<\/p>\n
However, it is difficult to understand why Minister Wirayuda
\nhas never mentioned, at least in public, that it is futile to
\npress demands that Sweden take action because Indonesia has never
\nformally charged Hasan Tiro and the other leaders with any crime.<\/p>\n
It is not enough to claim that we have evidence against the
\nGAM leaders without bringing them to court or at least charging
\nthem. Even Soeharto, during his iron-fisted rule, brought his
\nenemies to court, although many verdicts were allegedly
\nfabricated to please him.<\/p>\n
This attitude actually humiliates the government itself,
\nbecause it demonstrates the government's distrust of Indonesia's
\nown judicial system. The government apparently hopes that the
\nSwedish government will accept its arguments like a creed.<\/p>\n
Minister Wirayuda also realizes that Indonesia does not have
\nan extradition treaty with Sweden.<\/p>\n
Article 33:1 of the July 28, 1951 Convention on the Status of
\nRefugees rules that no contracting state shall expel or return
\n(\"refouler\") a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers
\nof territories while his life or freedom would be threatened on
\naccount of his race, religion, nationality, membership in a
\nparticular social group or political opinions.<\/p>\n
Stockholm can reject Jakarta's demands based on this
\nconvention, because the initial status of the rebels leaders was
\nthat of political refugees.<\/p>\n
To counter this argument, Indonesia can cite Article 33:1,
\nwhich states that \"the benefit of the present provision may not,
\nhowever, be claimed by a refugee whom there are reasonable
\ngrounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country
\nin which he is, or who, having been convicted by a final judgment
\nof a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the
\ncommunity of that country\". This, however, only works after
\nbringing the rebels to court.<\/p>\n
There is a highly nationalistic emotion running through
\nIndonesian society. People's Consultative Assembly Speaker Amien
\nRais boasted that he was ready to abandon his official Swedish
\nVolvo limousine. Other ministers may follow him for different
\nreasons, for example they are ready to trade in their cars for
\nsomething new. And don't forget that U.S. Ford Motor bought Volvo
\nin 1999.<\/p>\n
For the Swedish government, the closure of its small embassy
\nwill not have an immediate impact, as Ambassador Sanberg himself
\nwill soon leave Jakarta after serving in his post for about five
\nyears. His replacement is unlikely to arrive here immediately,
\nbecause the House of Representatives will surely prolong the
\nprocess of approving the new ambassador.<\/p>\n
And what about the plan to put GAM on UN's terrorist list?
\nWhether we realize it or not, it is the government itself which
\nis in the process of \"internationalizing\" the Aceh issue. The
\nrest of the world seems unconvinced that GAM should be
\ninternationally blacklisted while, for instance, the group's
\nleaders have not been officially charged with any crimes here. If
\nthe tactic to have the UN place GAM on its terrorist list fails,
\nthat means the government itself has promoted GAM to the highest
\ninternational level, the UN.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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