Ailing effects of pardoning Soeharto<\/p>\n
The Nation, Asia News Network, Bangkok<\/p>\n
News that the health of former Indonesian strongman Soeharto
\nhas perked up since Jakarta began debating dropping draft charges
\nagainst him hardly comes as a surprise. When it comes to ailing
\nex-dictators facing their legal comeuppance, nothing appears to
\nhave quite the same restorative powers as the possibility of a
\npardon. The image of former East German leader Erich Honecker
\nbounding down the stairs of the jet that took him into exile in
\nParaguay is an infamous one.<\/p>\n
Only hours before, the communist leader, who was blamed for
\nthe order to shoot many of his state's citizens who tried to flee
\nto the West, as well as the usual hard-man litany of plunder and
\nhuman-rights abuses, had been taken to the plane slumped in a
\nwheel chair.<\/p>\n
Like many of his contemporaries who rose to power in the late
\nsixties or seventies with U.S. backing, among them Ferdinand
\nMarcos, Augusto Pinochet and Thailand's own Thanom Kittikachorn,
\nSoeharto came down with a mysterious debilitating illness shortly
\nafter losing his grip on power. It was these medical complaints
\nthat have allowed him to avoid trial for looting the wealth of
\nIndonesia and a string of human-rights abuses throughout his
\nthree-decade-long rule.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, whose own father Sukarno
\nsimilarly fell ill after being toppled from power, reportedly
\nwants to abolish the charges against Soeharto on \"humanitarian
\ngrounds\". The move would also likely make it easier for her and
\nher businessman husband to deal with the still powerful Soeharto
\nclan and their allies in business circles, the military and the
\ndifferent branches of government.<\/p>\n
The pro-Soeharto press, notably the Media Indonesia newspaper,
\nsaid revoking the charges, which stem from the alleged
\nmisappropriation of more than US$570 million (Bt25 billion) in
\nfunds, would \"show that this nation had started to learn how to
\nappreciate its leaders\".<\/p>\n
What Megawati, who won the popular vote in the last election,
\nneeds to show is that she has more of an appreciation of
\ndemocracy, the rule of law and leaders' obligations to both those
\ninstitutions. A pardon for Soeharto would do little but undermine
\nalready weak public confidence in the government's commitment to
\nthe legal code and the notion that their society was somehow
\nbuilt on the principle of justice.<\/p>\n
Soeharto's doctors have said the former president has been
\nlaid low by a variety of complaints since he was toppled in 1997,
\nranging from heart to kidney problems, and most recently a life-
\nthreatening bout of pneumonia that allegedly left him unable to
\nwalk, comprehend statements, talk or, again, face trial.<\/p>\n
If Soeharto is truly incapable of standing trial then he
\nshould be tried in absentia. A pardon should only be considered
\nafter a verdict is reached at the trial and some progress is made
\nin returning the $15 billion-odd that Soeharto and his relatives
\nare believed to have siphoned off during his rule.<\/p>\n
The Soeharto trial is important not just because of the
\neconomic and human-rights crimes he allegedly committed but
\nbecause of what it says about where the country is headed;
\nwhether it will be ruled at the self-serving whims of the elite
\nor whether it is making progress on Megawati's promises to herald
\nin a civil society where everyone is equal under the law.<\/p>\n
Megawati's government must demonstrate it is serious about
\nfighting graft and corruption, including punishing past misdeeds,
\nbefore she engages in such \"humanitarian\" acts.<\/p>\n
The evidence so far, however, is that little is changing since
\nshe came to power. Only two weeks ago, a young Indonesian
\npolitician was accused of defamation and now faces more than 10
\nyears in prison for publishing critical views on Megawati's
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
The foreign business community has essentially given up on
\nIndonesia. It would be sad if its people did too.<\/p>",
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