The Jenkins-Soga saga and Indonesia

Bondan Winarno, Jakarta

Hitomi Soga -- together with her husband, Charles Robert Jenkins, and their two daughters, Belinda and Mika -- were finally reunited in Jakarta on July 9, 2004, after being separated for 21 months. The family has become a household name in Japan. Japanese election politics aside, Soga's struggle to have her family reunited has become a cause celebre in modern Japanese society.

Indonesia also seems to be benefiting from sincere appreciation from the Japanese public -- including those living outside the country. Yasuyuki Sato, a Japanese living in Jakarta, wrote as follows in a letter published in The Jakarta Post on July 7, 2004: "The Jenkins-Soga drama is a rare event in history where humanity has won out over the law, where the power of love has broken all the obstacles set up by governments. All of the people of Japan are certainly very grateful to Indonesia for its efforts to make this reunion a reality."

It is safe to assume that the huge publicity of the Jenkins- Soga family reunion in Jakarta has placed Indonesia back in the hearts and minds of the Japanese people. Japan has for decades been Indonesia's most important partner in trade and investment, as well as one of the main sources of tourists for Indonesia. But the image of Indonesia was terribly damaged, if not completely destroyed, by the Bali bombings of Oct. 12, 2002, and the Jakarta Marriott bombing on Aug. 5, 2003.

Has Indonesia played her cards right this time? It seems she has.

First and foremost, Indonesia has since the outset of the saga considered the nature of the family reunion to be a humanitarian issue. As early as 4 June 2004, while some other Southeast Asian countries were simply offering to host the family reunion, the Indonesian foreign minister said very clearly in an interview with the Yomiuri Shimbun that "because the nature of the reunion would be a humanitarian gathering, there should be no political or legal implications."

During the interview, foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda also made it clear that Indonesia had offered to host the family reunion with some conditionalities. He said, "if having Indonesia as the place for the reunion is the wish of the parties -- be they family or the states directly involved -- we would be ready."

In his following public statements, Wirajuda appeared very confident that, because of its excellent relationship with both North Korea and Japan, Indonesia would be able to facilitate the arrangements for the family reunion to take place in Indonesia. There is a clear-cut consistency in Indonesia's approach to affairs on the Korean Peninsula. Indonesia has always been consistent in its support for the dialogue-based efforts designed to achieve lasting solutions to the nuclear issue as well as the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula.

Also, Indonesia sounds confident that the humanitarian nature of the family reunion has the potential to bring about positive implications. At the least, it will help make the relationship between North Korea and Japan somewhat more comfortable. Moreover, the family reunion and the process in bringing it about could be used as building blocks for a higher degree of confidence among the countries involved in the Six-Party Talks process.

Another condition -- often stressed and repeated -- is that there should be no negative political or legal implications. Indonesia certainly knows the potential risk of political and legal complications given the fact that the United States still has some legal issues with Mr. Jenkins. Indonesia wants to pursue this matter very carefully. Hence, it is really not as simple as the fact that there exists no extradition treaty between Indonesia and the United States -- as some quarters suggested.

To be safer, however, Indonesia seemed to let the Japanese government do the talking with the United States.

As far as the Japanese government is concerned, all would be well as long as the Indonesian government could guarantee the privacy, safety, and security of the family reunion. And Indonesia seems to have managed to do so -- with little fuss.

Coincidentally, an annual meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum took place in Jakarta on July 2, 2004, in which all the relevant foreign ministers were present. It appeared to be natural to discuss the Soga family reunion issue during the bilateral meetings that took place on the side of the ARF meeting -- between Indonesia, Japan, North Korea and the United States.

However, although Japan had approached North Korea about the possibility of having Indonesia host the family reunion, the key question remained whether North-Korea had enough confidence in Indonesia. Interestingly enough, according to a friend from the Indonesian foreign ministry, during a bilateral dinner between Indonesia and North Korean representatives on June 28, 2004, the North Korean foreign minister was still maintaining a normative approach. In essence, the North-Korean government would support the family reunion, but it would be up to the family to decide -- including about the venue. And the preference was Beijing.

The following morning, June 29, 2004, following a bilateral meeting between Indonesia and North Korea, the North Korean foreign minister announced his government's support for the family reunion to take place in Indonesia. From then on, everything else fell into place.

Everybody -- even the U.S. -- agrees on the key argument that the family reunion is a humanitarian matter. When answering a question from an Indonesian journalist during a press conference on the evening of July 1, 2004, the U.S. Secretary of State suggested that the family reunion was a humanitarian issue and it would be up to the governments of Japan, North Korea and Indonesia to deal with the arrangements for it. However, Colin Powell also maintained that "Sgt. Jenkins is, of course, a deserter from the U.S. Army and those charges remain outstanding."

Hopefully, everything will turn out fine for Jenkins, Soga and their children. Hopefully this time, diplomacy works for humanity and decency. Hopefully, too, Indonesia will earn its fair share from the Soga saga. And who knows, the next mediation job for Indonesia may even be the release of Aung-San Suu Kyi?

The writer is a Jakarta-based columnist. He can be reached at bwinarno@indosat.net.id.