The Jakarta Post, June 28, 2004
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).
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