I write to you with great concern regarding the decision that
Nationalist MP Djoko Susilo has called for a halt in negotiations to
establish a prisoner exchange between Indonesia and Australia
because of the Australian Immigration Departments decision to grant
temporary protection visas to 42 Papuans this week. Mr Djoko Susilo
was quoted as stating, "We are trying not to hurt the Australian
people, but this is the lowest level between Indonesia and Australia
and we want more action taken by our government against yours, the
prisoners will stay in Indonesia - they won't do their prison time
in Australia now." He has also called for called for punitive
sanctions against Australia and a cut in military ties.
Your Excellency in 2005 the Australia - Indonesia Partnership for
Reconstruction and Development (AIPRD) was established to provide 1
billion dollars over the next five years for the reconstruction and
rehabilitation of Aceh, North Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia.
Australia has worked hard to help Indonesia reform its economy,
build strong institutions, improve governance and tackle corruption.
Australian companies are already active in Indonesia and Australia
is an important investor to you.
In 2004 The Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC)
was established as a bilateral initiative of Australia and Indonesia
to combat terrorism after the the October 2002 Bali bombings, the
August 2003 Marriott Hotel bombing and the September 2004 bombing
targeting the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. Australia has also
indicated the need to increase the cooperation between the two
countries in combating other forms of transnational crime and non-
traditional security threats, especially in areas such as people
smuggling, narcotics, outbreaks of disease and money laundering.
Australia is also working hard towards a close partnership between
the police forces, immigration and customs officials and security
and intelligence agencies in Indonesia. They are also trying to
strengthen intelligence and practical cooperation in the areas of
aviation and maritime security, and the conclusion of a new aviation
security arrangement between both countries.
Since 1992 there have been increasing exchanges between our
ministers and officials and Australia-Indonesia Ministerial Forum
meetings have been taking place regularly. Australia remains the
number one destination for Indonesians wishing to study overseas and
Australia will be offering 600 AIPRD post-graduate scholarships,
thereby more than doubling the number of scholarships it currently
funds for Indonesians. Australia has been a good neighbor to
Indonesia and only recently was exemplary in it's efforts after your
devastating earth quake and tsunami.
Your Excellency I beg of you to intervene and ensure that all
government responses to this latest problem do not escalate into
obstructing and enabling the halt to any negotiations of the
prisoner transfer agreement. Any delay or decision to shelve the
agreement would be detrimental to these Australian prisoners and
their families. Participation in international prisoner transfers
is generally justified on humanitarian, rehabilitative and financial
basis enabling persons to be returned to their country of origin to
serve their sentence. It not only assists the reintegration into
the community of prisoners participating in the transfer scheme, but
it also has positive benefits for the families of those prisoners.
Their re-absorption into the community is likely to be much more
difficult if they have served their sentences in a foreign country
without the opportunity to obtain skills that may assist them to
reintegrate into the community and without contact without contact
with their families.
I thank you for your valuable time and look forward to a positive
response.
Yours Sincerely
Kath Talmage
Member of Foreign Prisoner Support Service ( FPSS )
Member of Amnesty International Urgent Action Team
Member of Amnesty International NZ
Concerned, longstanding member of the Foreign Prisoner Support Service writes to
Indonesian President.
