2) Palace denies Widodo given list of political prisoners during Canberra visit
3) Civil Rights Violations On the Up in Indonesia
4) Australia and Indonesia: Close Friends At Last?
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1) Australia-Indonesia: Building trust
SIAN TROATH
After lurching from crisis to crisis, the two countries can forge a shared interest in keeping a steady relationship.
Published 11 Feb 2020 15:00
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo and Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison watch as foreign ministers Retno Marsudi and Marise Payne sign agreements in Canberra on 10 February (Photo: Rick Rycroft/AFP/Getty Images)
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi highlighted the importance of developing what she called “strategic trust” in Australia-Indonesia relations, just ahead of the visit to Canberra this week by President Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”). Retno declared a more trusting Australia-Indonesia relationship would be a “significant advantage” for the Indo-Pacific region.
It’s a view echoed by close observers of the relationship, and it is certainly true. The relationship has stereotypically been described as a roller coaster – beset by crises, sometimes large and sometimes small, one that has struggled to maintain an even momentum. Or to put it another way, as does analyst Yohanes Sulaiman, the relationship rests on “very slender reeds”.
But how do Australia and Indonesia build trust, and what are the prospects for doing so?
Much has been and will be made of Jokowi’s visit to Australia. The first Indonesian president to address parliament since former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s visit in 2010 certainly marks a significant occasion. The relationship has often done well when relations between leaders have been strongest. This is unsurprising, given the limited interactions and relations available elsewhere in the relationship. More than good leadership relations is required, however – even more so for those times when leaders fall out.
Shared economic interests are at the heart of Jokowi’s current visit, with attention focused on the signing of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) and its implications. A focus on shared interests can be misconstrued as merely transactional. But shared interests can provide an important foundation for the development of trust. Indeed, when it comes to relationships between countries, interests can never truly be divorced from trust.
A transactional, overtly “me-first” approach will cause harm to a bilateral relationship, as will acting in a way which breaches established norms or expectations. A mutual, respectful negotiation of shared interests, however, will aid in the development of shared expectations of trustworthiness. The better the understanding each country has of what the other expects from them, the less likely expectations will be dashed, and trust violated. This is what happened, for example, when Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a review of the location of the Australian embassy in Israel.
Given their proximity, Australia and Indonesia will always have opportunities to negotiate and cooperate on shared interests. As Retno puts it, “There is no option for both Indonesia and Australia other than identifying areas of mutual interest and seeking closer relations.” The difficulty is ensuring shared expectations of trustworthiness are in place regarding how to cooperate on shared interests, how to manage disagreements, and also resisting the temptation to allow short-term interests elsewhere to be given a higher priority than the relationship.
Trust also requires, above all else, opportunities for interaction. Cooperation on shared interests will provide opportunities for interaction – and hopefully not only between government ministers and diplomats, but also business people, students and educators, tourists, and others. The IA-CEPA will provide more opportunities for cooperation between both governments and the private sector than a free trade agreement. One example of this is the agreement to a reciprocal skills exchange, which will allow for people from both countries to undertake six months of experience in the other country if they have tertiary-level skill qualifications. Another is the announcement Monash University will be opening a campus in Indonesia, the first foreign university to do so.
While all of this holds the promise of potential, trust between Australia and Indonesia presently remains quite limited, and there is lots of work that needs to be done in order to improve matters, particularly given the challenges that face the two countries. From managing human rights disputes to China’s presence in the South China Sea, to climate change – there are many opportunities for disagreement and crisis, and many opportunities for cooperation.
Despite the challenges, there is hope that this time the mutual interest both countries have shown in developing trust with one another will mean that the resilience the relationship has shown in repeatedly bouncing back from crises can be put to better use: preventing crises in the relationship from happening in the first place, and managing regional and global challenges together.
Much has been and will be made of Jokowi’s visit to Australia. The first Indonesian president to address parliament since former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s visit in 2010 certainly marks a significant occasion. The relationship has often done well when relations between leaders have been strongest. This is unsurprising, given the limited interactions and relations available elsewhere in the relationship. More than good leadership relations is required, however – even more so for those times when leaders fall out.
Shared economic interests are at the heart of Jokowi’s current visit, with attention focused on the signing of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) and its implications. A focus on shared interests can be misconstrued as merely transactional. But shared interests can provide an important foundation for the development of trust. Indeed, when it comes to relationships between countries, interests can never truly be divorced from trust.
A transactional, overtly “me-first” approach will cause harm to a bilateral relationship, as will acting in a way which breaches established norms or expectations. A mutual, respectful negotiation of shared interests, however, will aid in the development of shared expectations of trustworthiness. The better the understanding each country has of what the other expects from them, the less likely expectations will be dashed, and trust violated. This is what happened, for example, when Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a review of the location of the Australian embassy in Israel.
Given their proximity, Australia and Indonesia will always have opportunities to negotiate and cooperate on shared interests. As Retno puts it, “There is no option for both Indonesia and Australia other than identifying areas of mutual interest and seeking closer relations.” The difficulty is ensuring shared expectations of trustworthiness are in place regarding how to cooperate on shared interests, how to manage disagreements, and also resisting the temptation to allow short-term interests elsewhere to be given a higher priority than the relationship.
Trust also requires, above all else, opportunities for interaction. Cooperation on shared interests will provide opportunities for interaction – and hopefully not only between government ministers and diplomats, but also business people, students and educators, tourists, and others. The IA-CEPA will provide more opportunities for cooperation between both governments and the private sector than a free trade agreement. One example of this is the agreement to a reciprocal skills exchange, which will allow for people from both countries to undertake six months of experience in the other country if they have tertiary-level skill qualifications. Another is the announcement Monash University will be opening a campus in Indonesia, the first foreign university to do so.
While all of this holds the promise of potential, trust between Australia and Indonesia presently remains quite limited, and there is lots of work that needs to be done in order to improve matters, particularly given the challenges that face the two countries. From managing human rights disputes to China’s presence in the South China Sea, to climate change – there are many opportunities for disagreement and crisis, and many opportunities for cooperation.
Despite the challenges, there is hope that this time the mutual interest both countries have shown in developing trust with one another will mean that the resilience the relationship has shown in repeatedly bouncing back from crises can be put to better use: preventing crises in the relationship from happening in the first place, and managing regional and global challenges together.
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https://www.indoleft.org/news/2020-02-10/palace-denies-widodo-given-list-of-political-prisoners-during-canberra-visit.html
2) Palace denies Widodo given list of political prisoners during Canberra visit
CNN Indonesia – February 10, 2020
Jakarta – Special Presidential Staff member for legal affairs, Dini Shanti Purwono, has denied a statement by human rights lawyer Veronica Koman who claimed that she handed over a document containing the names of Papuan political prisoners to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo.
The document was said to have been handed over to Widodo on Sunday during his visit to Canberra, Australia. “That news is not correct”, said Purwono when sought for confirmation on Monday February 10.
Purwono stated that the Palace has never received any kind of document related to Papuan political prisoners or people who have been killed [due to military operations in Papua].
Purwono confirmed that the information conveyed by Koman is wrong. “What is certain is that this information is not correct”, she said.
In a press release earlier Koman stated that she had handed over a document containing the names and locations of scores of Papuan political prisoners to Widodo through a team of activists in Canberra.
Widodo has been in Australia since Friday February 7 and is scheduled to return to Indonesia on Monday February 10.
Koman noted that Widodo once released five Papuan political prisoners in the early part of his leadership in 2015.
But in the start of his second term in office, there are 57 people who have been charged with makar (treason, subversion, rebellion) who are currently awaiting trial. This will only worsen the conflict in Papua according to Koman. (psp/gil)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Istana Bantah Terima Dokumen Tapol Papua dari Veronica Koman”.]
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3) Civil Rights Violations On the Up in Indonesia
BY :NUR YASMIN
FEBRUARY 11, 2020
Jakarta. A study performed by the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation, or YLBHI, shows that democracy in Indonesia deteriorated last year, as more than 50 people died in demonstrations around the country and thousands faced prosecution for expressing their opinion in public.
"We didn't expect there were so many civil rights violations," YLBHI director Asfinawati said in Jakarta on Monday.
"There were more than 6,100 cases of people being prosecuted just for expressing their opinion in public, more than 300 of those involving underage children. At least 51 died while exercising their right to express their political opinion in public. Those are data from just 16 provinces [out of 34 in Indonesia] so the real number could be higher," Asfinawati said.
The data in detail showed 6,128 people were prosecuted for expressing opinions in public, 324 of them underage. Of the 51 deaths, 44 died from unknown causes, six were shot and one succumbed to tear gas.
In terms of civil rights violations, 53 percent of those cases were violations of freedom of expression and 32 percent were violations of the freedom to assemble.
Papua and West Papua topped the list of provinces with the most number of civil rights violations with 18 cases, followed by Jakarta (11), Central Java (9) and South Sulawesi (7).
Most of the violations were attempts to prosecute by authorities (51 percent) and also included forced disassembly, arrest, intimidation and limiting information. There were 47 cases of criminalization with 1,019 victims. Most of the violations were perpetrated by police officers, university authorities and the Indonesian Military (TNI).
"Criminalization [of civilians] occured a lot, especially against individuals who spoke up about mining or forestry issues. Citizens have the right to criticize state development, but instead they're being prosecuted," Asfinawati said.
"Demonstrators were hunted down for voicing their rights. When they were caught, they got beaten or arrested. We think these violent acts were intentional to project fear, so people would stop protesting," she said.
Asfinawati said the government has been ignoring these civil rights violations for too long and that democracy has now become just another political tool to attract votes.
"There is no guarantee that these [prosecutions] wouldn't happen again. [President] Joko Widodo is very development-oriented, and the people around him [are the same]. But the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs should pay close attention to the problem," she said.
To prevent more civil rights violations, Asfinawati suggested everyone must play their part. Exposing such cases on social media has been proven to work, so people are encouraged to pull out their smartphones and record them when they happen.
"Even a simple action like that can contribute to preventing violations. If there's a new means to do it, then do it," Asfinawati said.
The YLBHI study confirmed the results of other studies in the last decade that suggested democracy in Indonesia is in continuous decline. For example, rights group Setara Institute found at least 2,400 cases of religious freedom violations in Indonesia in the past 12 years.
YLBHI and other civil groups have also released the "2020 Outlook on Freedom of Religion and Faith in Indonesia" report, which revealed that the number of religious freedom violations in Indonesia are increasing each year.
Meanwhile, in the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) Democracy Index 2019 ranking, Indonesia was up one spot globally to 64th on the list out of 167 countries with a democracy score of 6.48 out of ten. According to the index, political culture and civil liberty in the country have not improved since 2018.
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4) Australia and Indonesia: Close Friends At Last?
In a speech at the Australian parliament, Jokowi called Australia Indonesia’s closest friend.
Grant Wyeth By Grant Wyeth February 11, 2020
On Monday, Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo addressed the Australian Parliament. The speech was the central feature of his three-day state visit to the country. Despite the two countries’ proximity Jokowi’s speech was only the second time an Indonesian president had performed the honor in the 70-year history of their diplomatic relations, with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono being the first a decade ago. Fourteen heads of state or government have now addressed the Australian parliament in total.
Jokowi’s visit to Australia came in the wake of the Indonesian Parliament ratifying the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA), an agreement that had begun negotiations in 2012, last week. Kyle Springer from the USAsia Centre at the University of Western Australia provided an analysis of the importance of this free trade agreement for The Diplomat last week. The agreement is set to come into effect as early as April.
The ratification of the IA-CEPA, and the state visit by Jokowi, are the latest events in a period of heighted engagement between the two countries. In December, Indonesia hosted a 2+2 Foreign and Defense Ministers meeting that sought to consolidate the vision of the two countries’ Comprehensive Strategic Partnershipthat was established in 2018. For Australia there is a strong desire to create cooperative habits between Canberra and Jakarta, with the hope that as Indonesia’s economy rises to reflect its population, and its capabilities develop alongside its wealth, that Australia’s opportunities and its interests are facilitated, not threatened.
There is now a broad recognition of a number of shared interests between the two countries, with both looking for similar norms to be upheld in the Indo-Pacific region. Indonesia has become concerned about China’s activity within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) emanating from the Natuna Islands, aligning with Australia’s wariness toward China’s activity in the South China Sea. But also there is also a mutual unease at U.S. President Donald Trump’s suspicions toward multilateral institutions and his general protectionist instincts. Jokowi highlighted this concern in his speech when he said “Indonesia and Australia must enforce open, free and fair economic principles. Whilst protectionism is rising, we must continue to advocate economic openness and fairness.”
While multilateralism has been a central pillar of Indonesia’s approach to its global affairs, a commitment to free trade hasn’t had the same historical institutional commitment in Jakarta. If Jokowi is signalling his desire to shift this perspective and embrace a more open economic posture then he will have strong support from Australia, which will see Indonesia as providing considerable (and growing) weight to the advancement of a system that has served its interests very well. Australia’s desire to find new emerging markets to diversify its economy away from a dependence on China is also a driver of Canberra’s desire for Indonesia to seek greater engagement in international trade.
Jokowi began his speech by noting that last week a platoon from the Indonesian Army Corps of Engineers, along with personnel of the Indonesian National Agency for Disaster Management had come to Australia to assist with bushfire recovery efforts. He said that the Indonesian government hasn’t forgotten the assistance Australia provided after the 2004 tsunami in Aceh, and that “Australia is Indonesia’s closest friend.” This is a statement that shouldn’t be overlooked, as it represents an extraordinary elevation of Australia in the perception of the Indonesia government, and a significant turnaround from just two decades ago when relations were strained due to Australia’s involvement in the independence of Timor-Leste.
Jokowi highlighted that Indonesia is entering a phase of demographic dividend, with around 63 million people between the ages of 16 and 30, and that “most of them have a global outlook and are keen to collaborate and to innovate.” This reality converges with two provisions within the IA-CEPA that could prove fruitful for the two countries. The first being that Melbourne’s Monash University will be the first foreign university allowed to establish a campus in Indonesia, giving Australia an in-country advantage in facilitating the fulfillment of Indonesia’s education requirements. And the second is the increase in the number of working holiday visas for young Indonesians from 1,000 to 4,100 each year, providing young Indonesians the opportunity to live and work in Australia and create meaningful personal links.
These initiatives will go some way to helping build a bottom up approach to another major theme of Jokowi’s speech; “strategic trust.” Citing the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, Jokowi emphasized that Indonesia and Australia must become the anchors for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, and made note to extend this cooperation toward development assistance throughout the Pacific Island states. The Pacific Island states are a region where Australia is heavily invested, and one that Indonesia is beginning to take a serious interest in. Jokowi’s visit seems to have demonstrated that the the trust between the two countries is being cemented, with the hope being that the interaction between them beyond official level can now follow.
Grant Wyeth CONTRIBUTING AUTHOR Grant Wyeth Grant Wyeth is a Melbourne-based political analyst specializing in Australia and the Pacific, India and Canada.
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