Indonesia authorities block Burma govt-in-exile meet
Updated
The Indonesian government has attempted to stop a delegation of the Burmese government-in-exile from holding a conference in the capital Jakarta after a complaint was lodged by the Burmese embassy. The meeting was convened to officially launch an alternative plan for a transition to democracy. Organizers were forced to find a new venue, after threats from police to lock members of the delegation out of the conference room.
Presenter: Katie Hamann in Jakarta
Speaker: Roshan Jason, Executive Director of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus; Eva Kusuma Sundari, Indonesian MP; Teuku Faizasyah, Indonesia Department of Foreign affairs spokesman; Dr Jason Abbott, expert on Southeast Asian politics at Britain's University of Surrey
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HAMANN: The threats against organizers of the Burma democracy convention started earlier this week, when Jakarta's local police began shadowing members of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus at their hotel.
JASON: He came on Monday when I arrived. Tuesday he came back again with his superiors. And today he came with lots of police; there were about ten police in uniform and about 15 plain-clothes police and they were all taking my photograph.
HAMANN: Roshan Jason is the Executive Director of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus.
JASON: They didn't give specifics but they threatened the hotel if they go ahead with the event tomorrow morning, we will want your security people or we will ourselves will chain or lock up the room and not allow the participants in.
HAMANN: Members of the Burmese government in exile and a coalition of pro-democracy groups and ethnic leaders arrived in Jakarta this week to officially launch their 'Proposal for National Reconciliation' in Burma, an alternative to the Burmese Military Junta's roadmap to democracy. Among them was the so-called Prime Minister in exile Dr Sein Win, who is also the first cousin of imprisoned democracy hero Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
Supporting their efforts is Indonesian Parliamentary member Eva Kusuma Sundari. She says Indonesia's Department of Foreign affairs was made aware of the conference several weeks ago and made no objections until a letter arrived from the Burmese or Myanmar embassy last week.
SUNDARI: On the 4th of August the foreign ministry accepted a letter, the objection letter from the embassy of Myanmar, asking the foreign ministry to stop this event on the argument that this is illegal and it will potentially damage the relationship between the two countries. So the foreign ministry asked the police actually using the letter from the Myanmar embassy.
HAMANN: A Jakarta police source also told Radio Australia that the Department of Foreign Affairs had requested their help in preventing the meeting because of the complaint.
Department of Foreign affairs spokesman, Teuku Faizasyah, acknowledged the police were asked to intervene, but said it had nothing to do with the government of Burma.
FAIZASYAH: As a matter of principle the Indonesian government cannot allow its territory to be used for activities by the so-called government in exile while Indonesia and other ASEAN countries as well as the members of the United Nations recognize Myanmar as well as the government of Myanmar. So its not in our tradition to allow such political activities, political campaigns in our territory.
Earlier this year Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda stood shoulder to shoulder with US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in the capital Jakarta and pledged to work closely with the US and ASEAN partners in pressuring the Burmese leadership to yield to demands for greater human rights and democracy.
Dr Jason Abbott, an expert on Southeast Asian politics at Britain's University of Surrey, says a very different message was sent this week.
ABBOTT: It does seem to suggest that support for progress and dialogue within ASEAN has weakened somewhat in the last few months, given that the original sort of initiatives behind the American government's statement was supported by Indonesia. So it is a setback.
Despite police threats the delegation met yesterday with Indonesian members of Parliament, diplomats and the media at the Indonesian House of Representatives. The convention continues today at the National Commission on Human Rights.
