Fw: ICG Responds to Expulsion from Indonesia

["F A B I O C C H I::" <eco_fabiocchi at tin.it>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: ICG_notification at crisisweb.org 
Sent: Tuesday, June 01, 2004 11:40 PM
Subject: ICG Responds to Expulsion from Indonesia


MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP

ICG Indonesian Deportation Order Indefensible


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Jakarta/Brussels, 2 June 2004: ICG's Southeast Asia Director Sidney Jones and 
Analyst Francesca Lawe-Davies were yesterday ordered to leave Indonesia 
"immediately". Immigration department officials of the Jakarta provincial 
government delivered the order to ICG's office at 6 pm on 1 June (11:00 GMT). 
The letter made no specific charges against Jones and Lawe-Davies but stated 
that they were in violation of immigration laws. 

The order follows public statements by National Intelligence Agency head, 
General Hendropriyono, that ICG's reports were "not all true" and "damage the 
country's image". 

ICG's President, former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, said "the 
expulsion order is outrageous and indefensible, utterly at odds with 
Indonesia's claim to be an open and democratic society, and is bound to damage 
Indonesia's reputation far more than ICG's". 

Since establishing its Jakarta office in 2000, ICG has published 37 reports and 
briefing papers on conflict related issues, including Aceh, Papua, the Jemaah 
Islamiyah terrorist movement, communal violence and the transition from 
military to civilian rule. The reports and analyses, all publicly available in 
both English and Bahasa Indonesia on ICG's website www.icg.org , have been 
widely praised inside and outside Indonesia. 

No member of the government will take responsibility for initiating moves to 
expel Jones and her assistant but moves against ICG began early this year, when 
a letter from the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) to the Ministry of Labour 
resulted in a freeze on work permits for ICG staff. No one from ICG ever saw 
that letter, but it is understood it stated BIN was unhappy with ICG reports on 
Aceh and Papua. 

But to date, not a single Indonesian government department or official has made 
any complaints directly to ICG. Sidney Jones said, "We haven't even been told 
directly what we've done wrong - the officials concerned won't meet with us. We 
have not been able to respond to any charges, and there is no legal mechanism 
to challenge the expulsion." 

"ICG has been working with Indonesians to try and understand the sources of 
conflict in this country for the last four years" said Evans, "and we urge the 
government to allow us to resume our activity. To shoot the messenger doesn't 
say much for the state of political liberty in Indonesia under the Megawati 
government." 

"I deeply regret the expulsion of ICG staff from Indonesia, particularly in 
these bizarre circumstances", says Chairman of ICG's board in Indonesia, Mulya 
Todung Lubis. He noted that ICG was among twenty NGOs named as potential 
security risks for the upcoming presidential elections.


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Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 485 555 946
Jennifer Leonard (Washington) +1-202-785 1601
To contact ICG media please click here
www.icg.org 
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