Civilians remain scapegoats in human rights abuses<\/p>\n
Bayu Wicaksono, Civil Society Alliance for Democracy (Yappika),
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Former East Timor Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares was
\nrecently found guilty of human rights violations under several
\narticles of Law No. 26\/2000 on human rights tribunals and
\nsentenced to three years in jail. In response, Soares made an
\nintriguing statement: \"This East Timor case purely concerns a
\nlong-standing horizontal conflict. Why should I bear the brunt?
\nHow could I have dispersed the mass rally of the PPI (pro-
\nintegration group)? They were all armed. I might have been
\nkilled.\" This assertion contains a lot of riddles. Wasn't he the
\nofficial who addressed the rally? Did he do it under threat?<\/p>\n
Then, what about the power and authority of the governor in
\nmaking a decision? Could he have asked the regional military
\ncommander to dissolve the mass gathering believed to be involved
\nin the rampage? If Soares had done that, he should have issued an
\nofficial instruction to the military and police as evidence. If
\nthe instruction had been sent without response, the
\nresponsibility should have already been shifted to the security
\nauthorities.<\/p>\n
Another aspect worth noting in the ad hoc tribunal's trial of
\nthe case of East Timor human rights abuses was the presence of
\ninternational pressure through the UN Commission against Torture,
\nrecommending that the Indonesian government guarantee the
\nfunction of an ad hoc human rights tribunal for the case of East
\nTimor, with the capacity of considering the examination of all
\nhuman rights violations occurring from Jan. 1 to Oct. 25, 1999.<\/p>\n
Article 1 paragraph 1 of the law stipulates that human rights
\nconstitute \"a set of rights inherent in the basic nature and
\nexistence of man as God's being and bestowed by Him, which shall
\nbe respected, held in high esteem and protected by the state,
\nlaw, the government and everybody for the sake of honoring and
\nsafeguarding human dignity and integrity.\"<\/p>\n
The global urge for such recognition of human rights can also
\nbe noticed in the serious attitude shown by the UN Security
\nCouncil with its resolution 1264 in 1999, condemning acts of
\nviolence in East Timor's post-referendum period. The resolution
\nalso appealed to the Indonesian government to establish a human
\nrights tribunal and assigned the government the mandatory
\ninternational task of trying those responsible for the post-
\nreferendum incidents in East Timor. It obviously implies that the
\ngovernment has a moral burden in connection with the various
\ncases of human rights mistreatment.<\/p>\n
It came as a surprise when the ad hoc tribunal's panel of
\njudges acquitted former East Timor police chief Brig. Gen. Timbul
\nSilaen and five other officers -- former Covalima military
\ncommander Col. Liliek Koeshadianto, former Suai military district
\ncommander Maj. Sugito, former Covalima regent Col. Herman
\nSedyono, former Suai district military chief of staff Maj. Achmad
\nSyamsuddin and former Suai police precinct chief Adj. Sr. Comr.
\nGatot Subiantoro -- of human rights abuses.<\/p>\n
With the acquittals, due apparently to a lack of evidence,
\ninternational rights bodies are further losing their confidence
\nin our law enforcement. The logic that should be linked with the
\nmilitary and police presence is how the armed institutions
\nassigned to protect all civilians could condone the existence of
\nanother opposing, and armed, civilian group.<\/p>\n
As indicated in the UN recommendation, a prominent thread can
\nbe drawn between the crimes against humanity in East Timor and
\nthe structure of power. Based on the power division, the regional
\npolice chief and regional military commander are on par with the
\ngovernor in responsibility within the same territory.<\/p>\n
While the governor is responsible for human rights crimes
\ncommitted by an armed civilian group, the same is true of the
\nnational police, in this case the regional police chief. If the
\npolice remain incapable of preventing human rights abuses, they
\nhave the right and are obliged to seek military assistance, in
\nthis case under the regional military commander.<\/p>\n
However, the ad hoc tribunal's panel of judges under Andi
\nSamsan Nganro ignored the power division, namely the structure
\nbetween the regional civilian hierarchy (province administration)
\nand the military (regional command), and the relation between the
\ngovernor and military commander, as well as the local civilian
\nauthority (regency) and the military district command. Was it
\nbecause the six officers who were declared innocent came from the
\nmilitary and police, while only Soares is a civilian?<\/p>\n
If the ad hoc tribunal is willing to settle cases of post-
\nreferendum East Timor seriously, they are still bound by Law
\nNo.5\/1998 on ratification of the Convention Against Torture and
\nOther Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading treatment.<\/p>\n
If the tribunal fails to apply the logic of power structure,
\none can be sure that all the military and police officers will be
\nacquitted. Only Soares, a defendant representing civilians and
\nbureaucrats, has got a prison term. In turn, the international
\ncommunity will continue to witness that the judicial institution
\nin Indonesia remains far beyond upholding justice in human rights
\nviolations involving military and civilian suspects.<\/p>\n
Will the cases of Aceh, Papua, Poso and Maluku be settled in
\nthe same fashion, with civilian bureaucrats continuing to lose
\nand be declared guilty, while no connection is recognized between
\nthe military and the armed militia?<\/p>",
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