Australia, Indonesia relations hit rough patch

Bali bombers's sentence reductions anger Aussies, as Indonesia attacks report on Papau.

By Tom Regan Link Here


Indonesia may revoke in the future a presidential decree that cuts jail time for prisoners in terror-related cases, but it won't have any effect on "the reprieve given to Bali bombing instigator Abu Bakar Bashir," the Australian reported Friday. The decree grants "near-automatic" remission for prisoners on Independence Day and Ramadan.

Mr. Bashir, who is serving a 30-month jail term for inciting the Bali bombings, yesterday [Thursday] received 4 1/2 months' remission despite protests by Australia's ambassador David Ritchie to senior Indonesian ministers.

The October 2002 bombings resulted in the deaths of 202 people, including 88 Australians.

The announcement comes after the Australian government was criticized Thursday by the parents of many of those killed in the Bali bombings for "not doing enough" to make sure those found guilty serve out their full sentences. Brian Deegan, whose son was killed at Bali, told the Herald Sun that the Canberra government should make it very clear that the sentence reductions were "not the act of a good neighbor."

"As far as I'm concerned, Bali was as a direct result of the Australian Government chasing positions for some sort of central role in world affairs," Mr Deegan said. "Our government should now speak up. Our government should, in accord with its now present role, should be loud, should be clear, should be precise, about exactly what should occur in respect of these acts of terrorism."

Rohan Gunaratna, an expert on Al Qaeda and linked groups who lives in Signapore, recently told Australia's ABC Radio that Indonesian terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah is aiming to make more attacks against Australia. He also says that while the J.I.'s camps in Indonesia have largely been shut down, they have moved their operations to the Philipines.

The Age of Melbourne reports that Australia is increasingly frustrated by Indonesia's "ambiguous messages on Islamic terrorism," which are complicated by national politics in Jakarta.

Despite unprecedented co-operation that led to the imprisonment of 20 people connected to the Bali bombing, and many arrests over subsequent Jemaah Islamiah attacks, [President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono]'s Government remains reluctant to acknowledge the terror network's [Jemaah Islamiah] existence.

Dr. Yudhoyono lacks numbers in Parliament, depending on parties such as the rising, supposedly moderate, Islamic force in Indonesia, the Prosperous Peace and Justice Party. Its leading MP, Hidayat Nur Wahid, continues to intimate that the Bali bombing and September 11 attacks may just be part of a CIA plot.

On Friday, Indonesia officials announced that a man arrested earlier this week on suspicions of being the "Al Qaeda operative responsible for training camps for European militants" in Indonesia, was not that individual and had been released. Reuters reports that the government believes that Parlindungan Siregar, an Indonesian-born Al Qaeda operative, is in their country but has not been arrested yet.

ABC reports Friday that relations between the two countries were also strained Thursday when a report prepared by researchers from The University of Sydney "accused Indonesia of carrying out systemic rape, arson and torture in Papua."

Citing eyewitness reports, the document alleges a culture of impunity in Indonesia's military in Papua and that militias are used to intimidate the ethnic Papuan population, saying the abuses amount to genocide.

Indonesian officials angrily denied the charges in the report, questioning its methods and conclusions.