Indonesia to review intelligence pacts in wake of Australia spying
Nov. 4, 2013 | 1:37 PM

JAKARTA, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Indonesia's foreign minister says reports his country was spied on by Australia could force a review of its intelligence cooperation with its southern neighbor. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said Australia has refused to confirm or deny allegations the Australian Embassy in Jakarta collected political, diplomatic and economic intelligence, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Monday.

Indonesia will "draw our own conclusion" from the lack of response, Natalegawa said. He said that intelligence information shared between the countries had been "rather effective, very important" in disrupting people smuggling and terrorist attacks. "If Australia feels that there are ways of obtaining information other than the official one, then one wonders where we are at in terms of cooperation," the minister said. He ruled out expelling Australian diplomats, but said he wanted a guarantee the spying would stop.
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-Ne...3591383590246/

Backlash over spying claims grows
November 05, 2013


More than 170 Australian websites were hacked by Anonymous Indonesia to protest reports of spying. Source: AAP

INDONESIA has threatened to withdraw cooperation with Australia on various policy fronts, including in the area of people smuggling, amid a growing backlash over revelations of spying out of the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on Monday labelled Australia's response to complaints that the embassy was used to collect data and eavesdrop on Indonesian interests as unacceptable.

Dr Natalegawa said Indonesia was joining Germany and Brazil in co-sponsoring a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly that calls for measures to end violations of the right to privacy, including in digital communications and to force countries to respect their obligations within the framework of international human rights laws.

The spying row started off between the US and its European allies but last week erupted in Asia after Fairfax newspapers reported there was a network of US intelligence facilities in the region. The papers, amplifying an earlier story by German magazine Der Spiegel, said Australian missions were also involved in the US-led spying network.

On Sunday, the Guardian newspaper reported Australia and the US mounted a joint surveillance operation on Indonesia during the 2007 UN climate change conference in Bali, citing a document from US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. "Enough is enough," Dr Natalegawa, who had sought an explanation from his Australian counterpart Julie Bishop during a meeting in Perth on Friday, told reporters in Jakarta on Monday. "The recent revelations will have a potentially damaging impact in terms of the trust and confidence between countries concerned," he said.

Dr Natalegawa said that in the absence of any "explicit assurances" that the spying would stop, various agreements between Canberra and Jakarta on a range of policies would be reviewed. "We have to review our co-operation, our information exchange with the two countries concerned, both the US and Australia, because if they did gather information out of the official framework, the question is what is the use of the official framework," he said. "This is something we need to carefully think about and we have explained to them that we cannot accept this kind of thing and we demand that it wont be repeated in the future. "One of them obviously is the agreement to exchange information, exchange even intelligence information, in fact, to address the issue of people smuggling ... to disrupt terrorism, etc. Now these information flows have been rather effective, have been rather important. We need to look at that."

Dr Natalegawa said he was not satisfied by explanations given by Ms Bishop, or Australia's ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty who was summoned to the Indonesian Foreign Ministry on Friday. "The kind of response that we've been obtaining or receiving is the more generic response that neither the government of Australia nor the United States is able to confirm or deny the practices reported in the various media," Dr Natalegawa said.

Last week, Dr Natalegawa also called in the US embassy's charge d'affaires to protest over reports that the Americans had conducted electronic surveillance and phone-tapping from their Jakarta embassy. It's been claimed that Australian surveillance collection facilities are in place at embassies in Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi, Beijing and Dili, and high commissions in Kuala Lumpur and Port Moresby.

The top secret Defence Signals Directorate operates the listening posts at embassies without the knowledge of most Australian diplomats, according to documents released by US whistleblower Edward Snowden and statements from a former Australian intelligence officer. The documents revealed the existence of a signals intelligence collection program - codenamed STATEROOM - conducted from sites at US embassies and consulates and from the diplomatic missions of other intelligence partners including Australia, Britain and Canada. The documents say the Australian Defence Signals Directorate operates STATEROOM facilities "at Australian diplomatic facilities".
http://www.news.com.au/national/brea...-1226753094232

Indonesia steps up attack over spying
November 5, 2013
by Michael Bachelard, Karuni Rompies and David Wroe


"In the absence of such assurances to the contrary, of course we must assume that such activities are taking place": Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa. Photo: Andrew Meares

Indonesia has intensified its reaction to revelations that Australia was systematically spying from its embassy in Jakarta, apparently threatening in response to stem intelligence about people smuggling. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, stung by the revelations in Fairfax Media last week, has also vowed to co-sponsor an anti-spying resolution at the United Nations.


Julie Bishop: Her explanations have not pleased the Indonesians. Photo: Reuters

Asked what action Dr Natalegawa would take against Australia, he said that if there were no ''explicit assurances'' that spying would stop, it would threaten Indonesia's role as a partner in other areas. ''I was looking at the Indonesia-Australia [partnership], the various agreements the two countries have committed themselves,'' Dr Natalegawa said.

''One of them obviously is the agreement to exchange information, exchange even intelligence information, in fact, to address the issue of people smuggling … to disrupt terrorism, etc. Now these information flows have been rather effective, have been rather important. We need to look at that. If Australia feels that there are ways of obtaining information other than the official ones, then one wonders where we are in terms of co-operation.''

He was speaking in the context of his dissatisfaction with explanations to him personally by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, and to his department by Australian ambassador Greg Moriarty, in meetings last Friday, and from the US earlier in the week. ''The kind of response that we've been obtaining or receiving is the more generic response that neither the government of Australia nor the United States is able to confirm or deny the practices reported in the various media,'' Dr Natalegawa said. ''In the absence of such assurances to the contrary, of course we must assume that such activities are taking place.''
It's a significant step-up in response from Dr Natalegawa, who, sharing a conference podium with Ms Bishop in Perth last week, said the spying was ''not cricket''.

Back in Jakarta on Monday, he has called for a ''strong commitment'' by Australia and the US that ''they would not engage in any activity inconsistent with the friendly relations between our two countries''. Dr Natalegawa said Indonesia was ''joining Germany and Brazil in co-sponsoring in the UN General Assembly [a discussion] to address precisely this kind of issue''.

A leading security academic has responded to Dr Natalegawa's comments on the spying allegations by saying Indonesia is playing politics. Australian National University Professor Michael Wesley says Indonesia has plenty to lose from a breakdown in diplomatic relations with its southern neighbour and news of an intelligence-gathering operation being run out of Australia’s embassy in Jakarta is unlikely to impact ties. ‘‘When they say they’ll review collaboration with both Australia and the United States, there’s not a lot the Indonesians can do,’’ Prof Wesley told Sky News on Tuesday. ‘‘Marty Natalegawa is a very experienced, seasoned diplomat, he knows there’s a new government in Canberra, there’s an inexperienced prime minister and an inexperienced foreign minister and they’re just softening us up,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, innocent victims of the spat between Indonesia and Australia include a Queensland hospital, a children's cancer association and an anti-slavery charity, whose websites have been attacked by Indonesian hackers.
Schools and community groups were also among at least 100 Australian websites hit by cyber-attacks launched in retaliation to revelations by Fairfax Media that Australia used its embassies to spy on neighbours.

One of the hacker groups has vowed to continue unless Australia comes clean about its use of surveillance equipment in its Jakarta embassy. ''Tell your government we will stop [hacking] if there is clear recognition [of] spying on Indonesia,'' a spokesman for the Java Cyber Army said when contacted through Facebook.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politi...104-2wx8c.html

Exposed: Australia's Asia spy network
October 31, 2013


Embassy espionage in Canberra. Leading intelligence and security academic Prof. Des Ball discusses the history of embassy spying and says Australia is a target in our own capital.

Australian embassies are being secretly used to intercept phone calls and data across Asia as part of a US-led global spying network, according to whistleblower Edward Snowden and a former Australian intelligence officer.

The top secret Defence Signals Directorate operates the clandestine surveillance facilities at embassies without the knowledge of most Australian diplomats.


International outcry: A Stop Watching US Rally in Washington D.C. Photo: Getty Images

The revelations come as the US has been left red-faced by news it has been eavesdropping on foreign leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

US President Barack Obama is said to be on the verge of ordering a halt to spying on the heads of allied governments following the international outcry.

Fairfax Media has been told that signals intelligence collection takes place from embassies in Jakarta, Bangkok, Hanoi, Beijing and Dili, and High Commissions in Kuala Lumpur and Port Moresby, as well as other diplomatic posts.


Edward Snowden: Leaked a secret US National Security Agency document. Photo: Reuters

A secret US National Security Agency document leaked by Mr Snowden and published by Germany's Der Speigel reveals the existence of a highly sensitive signals intelligence collection program conducted from sites at US embassies and consulates and from the diplomatic missions of other "Five eyes" intelligence partners including Australia, Britain and Canada.

Codenamed STATEROOM, the program involves the interception of radio, telecommunications and internet traffic.

The document explicitly states that the Australian Defence Signals Directorate operates STATEROOM facilities "at Australian diplomatic facilities".

The document notes that the surveillance facilities "are small in size and in number of personnel staffing them".

"They are covert, and their true mission is not known by the majority of the diplomatic staff at the facility where they are assigned," the document says.

The National Security Agency document also observed the facilities were carefully concealed: "For example antennas are sometimes hidden in false architectural features or roof maintenance sheds."

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade declined to comment on the potential diplomatic implications of the disclosure. A departmental spokesperson said: "It is the long-standing practice of Australian governments not to comment on intelligence matters."

The leaked NSA document does not identify the location of specific Defence Signals Directorate facilities overseas.

However, a former Australian Defence Intelligence officer has told Fairfax Media the directorate conducts surveillance operations from Australian embassies across Asia and the Pacific.

The former intelligence officer said the interception facility at the Australian Embassy in Jakarta played an important role in collecting intelligence on terrorist threats and people-smuggling, "but the main focus is political, diplomatic and economic intelligence".

"The huge growth of mobile phone networks has been a great boon and Jakarta's political elite are a loquacious bunch; even when they think their own intelligence services are listening they just keep talking," the source said.

He said the Australian Consulate in Denpasar, Bali, has also been used for signals intelligence collection.

In June the East Timorese government complained publicly about Australian spying, including communications interception and bugging government offices during negotiations on the future of the Timor Gap oil and gas reserves.

Intelligence leaks to the media in the 1980s disclosed installation of ''extraordinarily sophisticated'' intercept equipment in Australia's High Commission in Port Moresby and in the Australian embassies in Jakarta and Bangkok.

Further leaks of top secret Defence Intelligence reports on Indonesia and East Timor in 1999 also indicated that Australia intelligence has extensive access to sensitive Indonesian military and civilian communications.

Intelligence expert Des Ball said the Defence Signals Directorate had long co-operated with the US in monitoring the Asia-Pacific region, including using listening posts in embassies and consulates.

"Knowing what our neighbours are really thinking is important for all sorts of diplomatic and trade negotiations," Professor Ball told Fairfax Media.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politi...030-2whia.html