MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Securing the Straits of Malacca and Singapore:
Lessons Learned
Asia-Europe Meeting Seminar on Piracy at Sea
Brussels, 4-5 May 2010
Rachmat Budiman
Director for Treaties on Political, Security and Territorial Affairs
Directorate General of Law and International Treaties
Outline
• Introduction
• Concerns Over the Straits of Malacca &
Singapore
• The Question of Piracy in the Straits of
Malacca & Singapore
• Piracy and Global Concerns
• Lessons Learned
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Introduction
• Indonesia is the largest archipelagic State
• Consist of 17.504 islands
• Land area ± 1.904.569 km2
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Indonesian Archipelagic Waters Based on
the 1982 UNCLOS
• Territorial waters =
3.100.000 km2
• EEZ = 2.700.000 km2
• Coastline = 54.716 km
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Indonesian Strategic Sea Lanes
Straits of Malacca
& Singapore
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Straits of Malacca & Singapore
• Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC)
• Sea Lanes of Transportation (SLOT)
• The “silk road” of the 21st Century
• General facts:
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–
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Length = 500nm
Widest = 155 nm (We Island – Kra)
Narrowest = 1,5 nm (Phillip Channel)
Ships = 200 vessels per day (70.000
vessels annually)
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Fundamental Policies, Cooperative Mechanism, Current Cooperation
Scheme, Regional Cooperation
CONCERNS OVER THE STRAITS OF
MALACCA & SINGAPORE
Fundamental Policies
1. The basic principles of managing the Straits of
Malacca & Singapore:
– Responsibility over the Straits lies within the territory of
the littoral Straits, to ensure the safety of navigation,
maintain security, and protects the environment in the
Straits
(It’s strengthened by article 34 & 43 of the UNCLOS 1982
which clearly state that sovereignty or jurisdiction over
such water, air space, seabed and subsoil by states
bordering the Straits used for international navigation)
2. Institutional framework
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Concerns Over
The Straits of Malacca & Singapore
•
Pre 1971: Sovereignty of Littoral States vs. Internationalization
•
Concern arises one after another:
• Safety of navigation
• Environmental protection
• Security
•
To answer those challenges, littoral States agreed on a common action to be taken,
among others, to establish a Management Structure of the Straits:
• Ministerial Meeting
• SOM Meeting
• Tripartite Technical Expert Group Meeting (TTEG)
•
The First Trilateral Meeting of Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore
after 30 years (1971) was held in Batam 2005
•
Resulting a series of meetings to revitalize the cooperation:
• Jakarta Conference 2005 exploring modalities for burden sharing
• Kuala Lumpur Conference 2006 identification and prioritization
• Singapore 2007 Establishment of “Cooperative Mechanism”
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Co-operative Mechanism
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Current Cooperation Scheme
•
Safety of navigation and Environmental Protection
– Projects of “Cooperative Mechanism”:
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•
•
•
•
•
Removal of wrecks
Capacity building on hazardous and noxious substance preparedness
Demonstration project of Class B AIS transponder
Setting up of a tide, current and wind measurement system
Replacement and maintenance of aids to navigation
Replacement of aids to navigation destroyed by tsunami 2004
– Contributors:
•
•
China, Greece, India, Japan, RoK, UAE, and USA
Nippon Foundation, Middle East Navigation Aids Service (MENAS), and Malacca Strait Council (MSC)
– Indonesian is going to convene the 3rd Cooperation Forum (October 2010)
•
•
•
•
This Forum is one of the main components of the Cooperative Mechanism
The purpose is to develop dialogue and exchange of views on the interest of the Straits
In order to get feedback and proposal of cooperation from stakeholders
Security
– Coordinated patrol
– Capacity building training of personnel (Navy-to-Navy)
– Exchange of views on the issues of common concerns
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Regional Cooperation:
Coordinated Patrol in the Straits
• Malacca Straits Sea Patrol (MSSP)
– 3 Countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore)
• MALINDO
• INDOSIN
• MALSINDO
– Eyes in the Sky (EiS)
• Conduct air surveillance along the Straits by Air Forces of
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore
• Intelligence Exchange Group
– Exchanging views on regional activities
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Indonesian Assets In Malacca Strait
Malacca Strait Sea Patrol
(standby forces):
365 days + 6 Warships + 2 Aircrafts
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
General Facts, Definition, Security Measures in the Straits, Major Security
Contribution
THE QUESTION OF PIRACY IN THE
STRAITS OF MALACCA & SINGAPORE
General Facts of
The Straits of Malacca & Singapore
• Geographical condition:
– Waters beyond the territorial sea in the Straits of Malacca &
Singapore are under the regime of EEZ;
– The Seabed and Subsoil beyond the territorial sea in the Straits of
Malacca & Singapore are under the regime of Continental Shelf.
• Legal consequence
– Limited rights (sovereign rights of the waters and its Seabed and
Subsoil beyond the Territorial Waters in the Straits;
– Could not be regarded as regime of high seas as contained in Part VII
of the 1982 UNCLOS (no high seas regime maybe applicable within the
Straits of Malacca & Singapore)
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Piracy: definition
Article 101 UNCLOS 1982:
“Piracy consists of any of the following acts:
(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation,
committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a
private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
i. on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against
persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
ii. against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside
the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an
aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in
subparagraph (a) or (b)”
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Armed robbery: definition
Code of Practice for the Investigation of the Crimes of
Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships (IMO Res
A.922(22))
•“Piracy” means unlawful acts as defined in article 101 UNCLOS;
•“Armed robbery against ships” means any unlawful act of
violence or detention or any act of depredation, or threat
thereof, other than an act of piracy, directed against a ship or
against persons or property on board such a ship, within a
State’s jurisdiction over such offences.”
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Piracy vs. Armed Robbery
•
The separation is very crucial to avoid negative effects to a Government policy
(wrong application of international law) and private sector (boosting insurance
premium).
•
It is also crucial not to undermine the sovereignty of the State.
•
The confusion of piracy and armed robbery against ship would be dangerous.
Unlawful activities occur within State’s jurisdiction. Only a State which has
jurisdiction can punish the criminals
Piracy regarded as hostis humanis generis, a menace to all mankind. Under
international law, universal jurisdiction is applicable over the illegal acts of piracy
whereas the legal consequence of this, is that it is punishable by any State.
Note: these are the current challenges that we are facing today.
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Indonesian Maritime Security Measures in
the Straits of Malacca & Singapore
• Indonesian Naval Patrols
• Indonesian Combined Patrol Navy, Police, Coast Guard,
Customs
• Terrestrial Intelligence and Law Enforcement
– Covering coastal areas of Sumatera Island (3.000km long)
• Coastal surveillance along the Strait of Malacca
• Crisis Centre Indonesian Maritime Coordinating Board
(IMCB)
– Incidents reporting centre for immediate response
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Major Security Contribution
• Settlement of 30 years
separatist armed
insurgent (return of
peace in the Province of
Aceh, which is located in
the vicinity of the Straits
of Malacca & Singapore)
Aceh Province
• Arms decommissioning
• Land development
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Current Situation, Lessons Learned from Straits of Malacca & Singapore
PIRACY AND GLOBAL CONCERNS
Piracy and Global Concerns
• Incident of piracy has been increasing rapidly in recent years
to an alarming rate.
• IMO reports (for the past two consecutive years):
Current trends of criminal acts of piracy mostly occur in the waters off the
coast of Somalia and the Gulf of Aden
• There were reports:
– Pirates or perpetrators committing a crime of piracy and armed
robbery against ships were promptly released after being
apprehended;
– Although international law provides universal jurisdiction, many States
still claim ‘lack of jurisdiction’ and seem reluctant to settle the issue in
their jurisdiction, mainly due to the reason that:
• There were no genuine link (no nationals as a victims or perpetrators);
• There was concerns on the human rights aspects on the due process.
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Important Note
• Take measures consistent with international law
• Avoid temptations in drawing parallel between the Somalia
situation with any other parts of the world (including the
Straits of Malacca & Singapore)
• Developments occur in the waters off the coast of Somalia
raised the awareness of international community
– Not less than the UNSC adopted several resolutions to suppress the
growing crisis of piracy in Somalia
– Escalating concerns on maritime security to a higher level
– Increase piracy insurance premium
• Although measures to implement the UNSC resolutions has
been observed by the international community, the incident
of piracy off the coast of Somalia continues unabated
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Lessons Learned from the Experience
of the Littoral States
• Establish regional mechanism (a tripartite effort)
• Achieve political stability in land
– No political stability no lasting solution
• Sustain terrestrial intelligence and conduct national
law enforcement
• Address the root causes
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA
Directorate of Treaties on Political, Security and Territorial Affairs
Directorate General of Law and International Treaties
Main Building 11th Floor, Jalan Taman Pejambon No. 6
Phone: +62-21-3849618 Fax: +62-21-3524154
THANK YOU