Activists wary of reconciliation commission<\/p>\n
Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Past rights violators could take advantage of the planned Truth
\nand Reconciliation Commission as a means to whitewash the past
\nand keep their hands clean, rights activists warned on Saturday.<\/p>\n
They were commenting on President Megawati Soekarnoputri's
\nstatement before members of the People's Consultative Assembly
\nlast Friday that the government was planning to establish a Truth
\nand Reconciliation Commission to deal with past human rights
\nviolations.<\/p>\n
In the Truth and Reconciliation Commission bill submitted to
\nthe House of Representatives in June, past human rights
\nviolations, including the mass killing in the aftermath of the
\nabortive coup in 1965, were to be settled by the victims and
\nperpetrators out of court.<\/p>\n
Coordinator of the National Commission for Missing Persons and
\nVictims of Violence (Kontras) Usman Hamid said the commission
\nwould only provide impunity for security officers implicated in
\nvarious rights violations when carrying out their duties.<\/p>\n
Asmara Nababan, former secretary-general of the National
\nCommission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), said the government had
\nto grant more power to the commission, otherwise \"we will only
\nrepeat the failure we experienced in bringing East Timor rights
\nviolators to justice\".<\/p>\n
\"The commission is complementary to the rights tribunal, it
\nhas to have the authority to summon alleged rights violators
\nbefore offering to reconcile with the victims or proposing a
\ntrial for those who ignore the summons.<\/p>\n
\"To avoid failure in summoning military officers implicated in
\npast rights abuses, the commission must be vested with subpoena
\nrights,\" Asmara told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He was referring to the failure of Komnas HAM to summon the
\nperpetrators of the Trisakti, Semanggi I and Semanggi II
\nincidents as well as the 1998 riots due to what he called
\n\"technical reasons\".<\/p>\n
Megawati said on Friday that Komnas HAM should not necessarily
\nhandle all human rights violations because \"our history is full
\nof turmoil resulting in many bitter memories that can only be
\nresolved through special treatment\".<\/p>\n
Critics have said that the country's first ever human rights
\ntribunal, in which alleged human rights violators were prosecuted
\nin the former province of East Timor in 1999 had failed to break
\nthe cycle of impunity.<\/p>\n
From a total of 18 defendants, 10 military and police officers
\nand one civilian were acquitted. The remaining seven other
\ndefendants, including former East Timor governor Abilio Jose
\nOsorio Soares and former Wiradharma military resort commander
\nBrig. Gen. M. Nur Muis, were sentenced to jail but remain free
\npending appeal.<\/p>\n
Up until now, the government has yet to establish an ad hoc
\ntribunal to try perpetrators of the 1984 bloodshed in Tanjung
\nPriok, North Jakarta, despite mounting demands from rights
\nactivists.<\/p>\n
Several military officers are alleged to have been involved in
\nthe mass killing, including the incumbent Army's Special Forces
\n(Kopassus) Commander Maj. Gen. Sriyanto.<\/p>\n
According to Usman Hamid, the Truth and Reconciliation
\nCommission bill has many flaws, including the mechanism for
\nproviding compensation for victims of rights abuses and the
\nprinciple of retroactivity.<\/p>\n
\"It is not immediately clear how the government will provide
\nappropriate compensation for rights victims.<\/p>\n
\"The government has also said that the commission is to
\nfacilitate reconciliation between violators and victims of
\nviolations that took place before the enactment of Law No.
\n26\/2000 on the ad hoc rights tribunal. Does it mean the killing
\nof hundreds of civilians in North Sulawesi during the Dutch
\ncolonial period will also be covered by the commission?\" Usman
\nasked.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/activists-wary-of-reconciliation-commission-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}