Christian Donny Putranto – Just moments before what was to be a historic flight to the Netherlands on Tuesday, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono surprised quite a few people – his entourage included – by canceling the trip.
There had been rumors that Yudhoyono – who was to receive the Order of the Dutch Lion from Queen Beatrix – was considering canceling the state visit after a recent Dutch poll showed impressive gains by anti-Islamic politician Geert Wilders.
But what caused our president to cancel wasn't politics but a lawsuit filed against him in a Dutch court by a group claiming to represent the unrecognized South Maluku Republic (RMS).
A group of Dutch nationals, along with John Wattilete, the exiled president of the separatist RMS, initiated the proceedings, alleging human rights violations in Maluku and Papua.
The grounds for cancellation? Indignation at the "indignity" of the law suit and a planned protest.
Yudhoyono should eventually go through with his visit the Netherlands because it could help the two nations further improve their warming relations.
Just five years ago, the Netherlands acknowledged Aug. 17 as Indonesia's official Independence Day, and the Dutch foreign minister attended the ceremony at the State Palace. Since then, ties have continued to grow.
Specifically, there are two reasons why Yudhoyono should have not have bailed out on his state visit.
First, under international law, Yudhoyono has absolute sovereign immunity as a head of state. He enjoys protection from foreign jurisdiction, either civil or criminal, and that immunity must be duly observed by the Dutch government while Yudhoyono is within its territory.
The International Court of Justice affirmed this immunity principle in a case involving the Democratic Republic of Congo and Belgium in 2001. In that case, after a series of legal proceedings Belgium issued an international arrest warrant for the then-Congolese foreign minister for gross human rights violations.
The ICJ ruled that a high-ranking official – such as a head of state, head of government or foreign minister – enjoys sovereign immunity and therefore the arrest warrant was unlawful.
Based on the maxim par in parem non habet imperium – an equal has no authority over an equal – Yudhoyono should have known that in even the worst-case scenario he would not have been subject to Dutch jurisdiction.
Many nations' leaders have been subject to a lawsuit overseas, but canceled visits are rare. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has traveled overseas despite being the target of legal action in many European countries, including Germany and France, for his denial of the Holocaust.
The admirable qualities of SBY's international affairs and legal advisers notwithstanding, it may be argued that our government is still immature when it comes to handling such a legal-political situation in the international sphere.
As noted international law scholar Prof. Hikmahanto Juwana has said, the legal dispute is not between Indonesia and the Netherlands; it's a problem between the RMS and Indonesia.
The most disturbing effect of the cancellation is the RMS's perceived victory. This unprecedented "triumph" can be used in the future by other separatist movements in exile.
By backing out of the trip, Yudhoyono may have given fresh life to the RMS separatist movement, and support from the international community might significantly increase as a result.
Yudhoyono's administration should show the world that Indonesia is much stronger than a tiny separatist organization like the RMS and that the country has no tolerance for such movements.
Another reason of the cancellation, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Teuku Faizasyah, was that Yudhoyono didn't want the legal situation to take attention away from the core purpose of his visit, which was to strengthen bilateral relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands.
In his news conference, Yudhoyono also said that his dignity, as well as the dignity of Indonesia, had been insulted by the lawsuit.
But it is hardly logical to say that the dignity of Indonesia as a nation was infringed upon or disturbed by the filing of a lawsuit in the Netherlands.
To the contrary, it is our dignity as Indonesian people that has been indirectly harmed by SBY's response. We should be showing the world that we are not afraid of such separatist groups.
In Indonesia, only a few people would have been aware of the RMS lawsuit had Yudhoyono not overreacted.
Next time, the president should think hard about what kind of offenses are serious enough to occasion the cancellation of a state visit. An "insulting" lawsuit is not one of them.
[Christian Donny Putranto is a law graduate of the Atma Jaya University.]