The Sidney Jones case and the presidency of Megawati

The Sidney Jones case and the presidency of Megawati

Jusuf Wanandi, Jakarta

Sidney Jones, the Head of the International Crisis Group (ICG)
in Indonesia has been most helpful to Indonesian intelligence
groups with her research, studies and publications about Jamaah
Islamiyah particularly, but also on Islamic extremism in
Indonesia in general. Her in-depth analysis about the
complexities of the Poso conflict in Sulawesi is a classic. She
also has written so many excellent studies and analysis about
regional conflicts, such as on Maluku, Aceh and West Papua.

She has a deep understanding of Indonesian society, because
she has studied Indonesian affairs for over 25 years. She also
has many friends among intellectuals, civil society, and the
media. They appreciate her honesty, balance and frankness, her
concerns and views on Indonesia. Some of them know how much she
loves Indonesia, and therefore, could do no harm to the country,
society and nation she has given so many years of her life to.
She is critical, sometimes brutally so, when she sees abuse and
evil committed by the Indonesian leaders on their own people, as
has often happened. But she does that for the Indonesia that she
really loves.

Her studies and analysis are so important for the Indonesian
leaders and particularly the intelligence services of the
country, headed by Hendropriyono (head of the National
Intelligence Body -- BIN). Indonesian scholars could not do as
good a job as Sidney has been able to do with a limited staff.
And our intelligence work is not even on par with her work,
because everybody knows how limited they are and have been. Thus
it is so ironical that it was Hendropriyono who has been
instrumental in getting rid of Sidney, while among Indonesian
government agencies it is he who really needs her most.

Yes, Sidney has criticized him by name in the effort to divide
Papua into three provinces, which was unconstitutional and
illegal because it was done by presidential decree, while the
special autonomy status provided to Papua earlier (and where
Papua is seen as one province) was laid down by the constitution
and through legislation. Sidney would, in principle, never attack
a country or a nation, but only individuals (government or
otherwise) she considers abusive (in human rights cases) or who
act against the law (in criminal cases, or constitutional ones
like the division of Papua).

To accuse her of being anti-Indonesia or of acting against our
national interests is so absurd that nobody believes it. And
nobody considers that Hendropriyono represents the nation or the
country because he is a minister in the Cabinet and head of
national intelligence. He should instead respond to her criticism
either directly or through the media. By ending her term in
Indonesia she will only become a martyr abroad and among
influential Indonesians too. That the legislature (Commission I:
on defense and foreign affairs) agreed to the expulsion of Sidney
only shows that our legislators also have no understanding of
what is at stake, and what national interests are in the 21st
century, and in our era of globalization. The world is given a
preview that Indonesia is going back to the Soeharto era.

We have to be thankful to Sidney instead of blaming her,
because she has been honest to us about our own mistakes and
weaknesses. And she has presented them in a very competent way,
so that we really can see our own problems and correct them. That
she is a foreigner, an American citizen, is all the more
important for us, because so many of them are well-meaning toward
we Indonesians. They are appreciative of what we have achieved
despite the mess we are still enduring: Democracy and improved
relations among us, especially between Muslims and non-Muslims.

President Megawati Soekarnoputri would be well advised to
correct this decision, because her prestige and the support of
the populace is still tentative and uncertain after her big loss
in the legislative elections. The people are gradually turning
again toward her, because they think that at least she is a
democrat. They expect that she will not commit abuses. However,
she still could be influenced into making an erroneous decision
she might not be completely aware of, such as in the case of
Sidney Jones.

Civil society organizations such as NGO's, the media and many
of the students, as well as many Chinese-Indonesians and
Christians do think that the two ex-generals (Wiranto and Susilo
Bambang Yudhoyono) have many skeletons in their closet. They
could not in good conscience be supported. So by default rather
than by design only Megawati is left. But if Megawati shows, as
in the case of Sidney Jones, that in practice she is no different
from the two generals, civil society might support Amien Rais as
the other civilian candidate, however limited his chances are of
winning. But his popularity is rising because he might be the
only politician who really is a reformist.

The writer is co-founder and a member of the board of trustees
of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).