S

ix years after the ASEAN Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR) was officially established during the bloc’s 21st summit in Cambodia, the organization was finally made operational on Thursday.

Marking the start of the AIPR’s activities was the signing of a Host Country Agreement by Jose Tavares, who represented Indonesia as the Foreign Ministry’s director general for ASEAN affairs, and the AIPR’s first director general, Rezlan Ishar Jenie, who was appointed to that post in October last year.

According to an ASEAN press release, the AIPR’s Governing Council held its first meeting in Jakarta in December 2013 to discuss, among other things, the AIPR’s work plan and the design of a reporting mechanism, but it took several more years for ASEAN’s slow consensus-building process to accept Indonesia’s offer to host the AIPR secretariat and pay the initial costs.

“This was result of Indonesia’s consistency toward the peace mission and to become the host for AIPR,” Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said after the signing of the agreement, adding that Indonesia would provide space for the secretariat’s office and funding for the next three years, “but the years after that would be shared with all countries.”

When asked numerous times how much Indonesia would pay in those first three years, both the minister and the executive director would only smile and say: “It’s enough.”

Retno said the Host Country Agreement also detailed the rights given to the institution, including the diplomatic immunity granted to AIPR officials since it would be an international organization operating in Indonesia.

“The signing of the agreement between Indonesia and the AIPR recognizes the legality of the institution under the national law of Indonesia,” Retno said.

The AIPR came out of the ASEAN Political-Security Blueprint devised in 2011 when Indonesia last chaired ASEAN. It was established to be a research institute consisting of government representatives, think tanks and academics, with its main task to provide recommendations for government policies related to peace, conflict resolution and reconciliation in Southeast Asia.

Retno said the AIPR was important for helping ASEAN face the increasing uncertainty of new challenges, such as violent extremism, terrorism, border disputes and transnational organized crime. The institution’s strategic purpose would be in line with Indonesia’s active role in conflict resolution in the past, such as in the Cambodian peace talks in 1991 and conflict resolution in South Mindanao from 1993 to 1996.

“We will see from the experiences within the area where there were some [problems] able to be resolved with peaceful dialogue and using facilities from within the ASEAN countries,” Rezlan said. “We want to do more study into this and use it as a lesson for ASEAN countries in cases of dispute and conflict.”

He said his main concern was to focus on existing challenges. “Of course, as of right now I cannot say much but we are going to compile the best practices the countries have made so far that can be used as guidance if needed,” he said.

He said a term of reference of the AIPR remained non-intervention in a country’s sovereignty.

“However, it will not only involve officials from countries as we also plan to involve CSOs [civil society organizations], NGOs and academics,” he said.