Blind nationalism<\/p>\n
Nationalism, in the narrowest sense of the term, has reared
\nits ugly head once again in this country this past week with the
\nlatest row between Indonesia and the United Nations. The climax
\nwas Monday's attack on a car carrying UN officials after they
\nvisited the House of Representatives in Jakarta. The assailants,
\ninvoking the red-and-white national flag, were protesting against
\nthe United Nations' plan to question a number of Indonesian
\nMilitary and National Police officers in connection with the
\nmayhem in East Timor last year. The message that they conveyed to
\nthe UN visitors in such a rude manner was that the planned UN
\ninvestigation amounted to interference in Indonesia's domestic
\naffairs.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government, in this case, Attorney General
\nMarzuki Darusman, had apparently signed an agreement allowing the
\nUN Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) to question
\nIndonesians as part of its investigations into crimes committed
\nlast year when the province was still administered by Indonesia.
\nThe agreement was reciprocal. Indonesian authorities could, in
\ntheir own pursuit of justice, conduct investigations in East
\nTimor.<\/p>\n
Lawyers for the 22 military and police officers whom UNTAET
\nwanted to question last week refused to allow their clients to
\nmeet with the UN investigators. Besides invoking nationalism and
\ninsisting that Indonesian officers were only answerable to the
\nlaws of the land, the lawyers questioned the validity of the
\nagreement that Marzuki signed with UNTAET. On Tuesday, Indonesian
\nMilitary (TNI) chief Admiral Widodo A.S. put more pressure on
\nMarzuki, who has already been accused of selling out the nation,
\nby saying that he would not permit any TNI officer, presumably
\nactive or retired, to meet with the UNTAET investigators.<\/p>\n
As in the past, nationalism has again been used effectively to
\nobstruct the pursuit of truth and justice, the objective of the
\nUNTAET exercise. Again, nationalist elements, with a little help
\nfrom their friends in the media, have construed the word
\nnationalism in its narrowest sense, and have mobilized the public
\nto shield a small group of people.<\/p>\n
Typically, by playing the nationalist card and attacking the
\nlegality of Marzuki's agreement with UNTAET, the proponents have
\ndiverted attention away from the substance of the matter: the
\npursuit of justice. They have instead turned the heat on Marzuki,
\nand away from the people who really should be held accountable
\nfor their misdeeds in East Timor.<\/p>\n
We have seen such misuses of nationalism happen too many times
\nin this country in the past. What is sad about this practice is
\nthat while it has shielded some people from having to answer or
\naccount for their actions before a court of justice, it has done
\nirreparable damage to Indonesia's credibility and reputation as a
\nmember of the international community.<\/p>\n
This episode has renewed questions about Indonesia's
\ncommitment or ability to see that justice is upheld in this
\ncountry, something that any decent member of the international
\ncommunity should be able to guarantee. The government's failure
\nto present the officers for questioning could even be construed
\nas an obstruction of international justice.<\/p>\n
The international community has already given the benefit of
\nthe doubt to Indonesia in connection with the investigation into
\nhow the Indonesian Military failed to protect lives and property
\nshortly after the East Timorese voted for independence in August
\nlast year. It has also given the benefit of the doubt to
\nIndonesia with regard to the investigation of the murder of three
\nUN relief workers in Atambua, the refugee town close to the East
\nTimor border.<\/p>\n
Resisting pressure for an international tribunal, Indonesia
\nhas insisted on conducting its own investigations in both cases.
\nBut the investigations, like all other politically-charged cases
\nin this country, have been painfully slow. International patience
\nmust have its limits, and one suspects that it is fast wearing
\nthin, especially after the latest episode.<\/p>\n
If Indonesia continues to fail to live up to its minimum
\nobligation as a member of the international community to uphold
\njustice, the world will be forced to establish an international
\ntribunal to try the perpetrators of last year's human rights
\nviolations in East Timor. Since the government seems to be
\ncompletely incompetent, incapable or unwilling in respect of the
\nconducting of its investigations, we could perhaps ask the
\ninternational tribunal to hear all of the many other cases of
\nhuman rights abuses in this country which have been left pending
\nfor too long.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/blind-nationalism-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}