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).