RI, Australia may widen extradition treaty

RI, Australia may widen extradition treaty

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Australia will study the
possibility of widening their extradition treaty to cover people-
smuggling offenses, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
Wirayuda said after talks with three Australian ministers.

"There is an opportunity for us to include more crimes or
offenses within the scope of the extradition treaty," Wirayuda
told a joint media conference after he emerged from a two-hour
meeting with visiting Australian Foreign Minister Alexander
Downer, Immigration Minister Phillip Ruddock and Defense Minister
Peter Reith.

The two countries are discussing measures to stem global
smuggling activities.

Hassan said that the two countries had agreed that people-
trafficking was not only a bilateral matter, but also a regional
and international one.

"We agreed that in this brief meeting we did not expect to
make progress to solve the current problem faced by Indonesia and
Australia -- that is illegal migrants. But we agreed to hold
further talks at senior official level early next week," Hassan
said.

The people-trafficking issue does not only involve
humanitarian matters but also has a strong connection with drugs-
and weapons-smuggling as well as the threat of international
terrorism.

Featuring prominently in the background was the case of a
shipload of 438, mostly Afghan asylum seekers who were rescued by
the Norwegian cargo ship Tampa when their Indonesian ship sank on
Aug. 26 close to Christmas Island.

The Norwegian ship tried without success to enter Indonesian
waters, following a military operation launched by the Australian
government, which had earlier denied entry to the ship.

The three senior Australian ministers held a two-day marathon
meeting here with their counterparts and other officials.

Also present at Thursday's meeting, held at the office of the
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono, were Susilo himself, Minister of Defense
Matori Abdul Djalil, National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro
and Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Adm. Widodo A.S.

Hassan reiterated that the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees and other international migrant organizations had to
be involved during the next round of talks between senior
officials.

Meanwhile, Alexander Downer said that the meeting also covered
the issue of extraditing people-smugglers to Australia and the
strengthening of Indonesian law concerning the practice.

"Our lawyers will examine the existing extradition treaty to
see if it can cover people-smuggling. We certainly agreed that
this is an issue that needs to be addressed," he said.

Earlier, AFP reported that Jakarta had rejected an offer made
by Australian Prime Minister John Howard to fund the construction
of a facility in Indonesia to process asylum-seekers who used the
archipelago as a jumping-off point on their way to Australia.

Howard said the visiting ministers would renew the offer,
which had been on the table for a while.

Asked to comment on this, Hassan Wirayuda said, "We reject it,
if they mean a holding center. The government already conveyed
this to Howard when he visited President Megawati."

On the four Indonesian citizens currently under detention in
Western Australia due to their alleged involvement in people-
smuggling, Downer said, "We caution Indonesians who may have
boats not to allow them to be used for this purpose because it
can cause enormous problems for them under Australian law."
(tso/hbk)