Today,
9 September 2005 the Government of Australia
organized a memorial service to honour victims
of the bombing in front of the Embassy of
Australia in Jakarta, that happened exactly a
year ago.
The
service was attended by around 150 people,
notably Prime Minister John Howard,
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for
Foreign Affairs, Bruce Billson MP and Ambassador
Imron Cotan from Indonesia.
The
Prime Minister used the opportunity to once
again express his condolences to the government
and people of Indonesia, especially those who
fell victims to this terrorist attack and at the
same time paid tribute to the Australian
Embassy’s staff in Jakarta for their bravery.
As
instructed, Ambassador Imron Cotan read the
statement of Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan
Wirajuda, the text of which is as follows:
“Today
we remember the victims of the terrorist bombing
in front of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta on
9 September 2004, which claimed the lives of 10
innocent individuals and injured around 200
others. The Embassy of Australia as well as some
other buildings in its vicinity was heavily
damaged as a result.
However, most importantly and beyond any
material damage are the human losses. The number
of casualties I mentioned earlier are not merely
numbers. They
are innocent Indonesians with families whose
lives will never be the same again.
For
Indonesia, as a nation, our resilience was
tested again.
But like before, we always stand tall,
since democratic Indonesia is far too resilient
to succumb to this cowardly act of terrorism.
As
one of the frontline states in the global war
against terrorism, the Indonesian Government and
its people will continue to maximize our efforts
to eradicate terrorism within Indonesia.
We will continue to wage a comprehensive
strategy to combat terrorism in the short,
medium, and long term, which includes bilateral,
regional and international cooperation, and at
the same time try to identify its root causes
and defeat them all together, as well as to
enhance the capacity building of our law
enforcement in dealing with these threats.
The
September 9 dastardly attack has brought
Indonesia and Australia even closer together.
Twenty-four hours following the attack,
channels of communication at various levels had
been established between our two governments.
At the highest level, talks between
former President Megawati Soekarnoputri and
Prime Minister John Howard reflected the
seriousness and commitment with which the two
Governments were responding to the attack. Not
just the governments, the people in Indonesia
and Australia were also united in facing this
common threat.
The Indonesian people deeply appreciate
the expression of condolence and solidarity by
the Australian people for the aforementioned
victims.
Thanks
to the excellent cooperation that exists between
the AFP and the Indonesian National Police (INP)
in the form of technical support assistance, we
have apprehended the six main offenders of the
bombing. At this moment they stand trial and
will receive punishments according to their
deeds in due course.
We
have suffered together from this heinous attack,
but at the same time we have also succeeded in
solidifying our cooperation and partnership by
taking several concrete cooperative endeavors to
redress the situation.
Against
this backdrop, our two governments together with
the Islamic organization Muhammadiyah has also
successfully organized an inter-faith dialogue
participated in by religious leaders from 14
countries in Jogjakarta on 6-7 December 2004 to
promote understanding and to foster harmony
between faith communities across the region as
well as to empower further the moderates within
our societies and among countries in the region.
This
is not, however, a matter for Australia and
Indonesia alone, since the attack was an attack
against all civilized nations and peoples.
We, civilized nations and peoples, must
gather all our resources and efforts to combat
this threat.
With
continued cooperation, I have no doubt that the
war will be won, and our peoples will once again
be free to live our lives without fear or
intimidation.”
Canberra,
9 September 2005
