The Jenkins-Soga saga and Indonesia

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.