Government urged to set up truth body<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Human rights campaigners urged the government of
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid on Thursday to set up a truth and
\nreconciliation commission to allow the country to come to terms
\nwith its traumatic recent past.<\/p>\n
Speakers at a seminar said the country should learn the truth
\nby bringing together victims and perpetrators of human rights
\nviolations. Revealing the truth will help in the healing process
\nof the victims as well as the nation, they said.<\/p>\n
The activists, including Bambang Widjojanto of the Indonesian
\nLegal Aid Foundation (YLBHI), Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara of the
\nInstitute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) and Maj. Gen.
\n(ret) Samsudin of the National Commission on Human Rights
\n(Komnas), spoke at a workshop exploring the idea of establishing
\na truth and reconciliation commission.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman broached the idea of the commission early this
\nyear, saying it would be modeled on the inquiry into the
\natrocities committed during the apartheid regime in South Africa.<\/p>\n
He has not mentioned the idea in public since becoming
\npresident on Oct. 20.<\/p>\n
The freedom of expression ushered in after the resignation of
\npresident Soeharto in May 1998 has been accompanied by horrific
\ndisclosures of many atrocities -- including cases which were
\nwell-known and others long covered up -- committed during his 32
\nyears in power.<\/p>\n
The demand for the truth came from former communist prisoners
\nwho were jailed by Soeharto after he came to power, as well as
\nmore recent prisoners of conscience. The newfound freedom of
\nexpression has also often led to emotional condemnations of the
\nformer leader, his Golkar Party and the Indonesian Military.<\/p>\n
Samsudin, a retired Army general, said the truth about the
\nviolations must be brought out into the open as part of the
\nhealing process.<\/p>\n
\"Should we just sit together and shake hands and simply forget
\nabout them? For the victims, and probably the perpetrators, it is
\ndifficult to ignore the fact that such inhumane things happened.\"<\/p>\n
Apologies and expressions of commiseration are not enough, he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
He identified two kinds of primary crimes which concerned the
\nworld community: human rights violations and war crimes. Both
\nshould be tried in court, he added.<\/p>\n
Establishing tribunals would not be enough, he said, but must
\nbe followed by rehabilitating and compensating the victims.<\/p>\n
South African Ambassador to Indonesia B.S. Khubeka explained
\nhis country's experience with such a commission. \"We were asking
\npeople not to seek revenge, but to forgive,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bambang Widjojanto said the commission must hold a definite
\ngoal and scope, as well as full authority.<\/p>\n
The kind of violations and the specific period of time over
\nwhich they occurred should be defined, or else the commission
\nwould be overloaded by cases, he said.<\/p>\n
The idea for the truth and reconciliation commission should be
\noffered to the public for them to decide if it was what the
\ncountry needed, Bambang said.<\/p>\n
\"They could also determine which violations should be looked
\nat.\" He acknowledged it would be a lengthy process but said it
\nwould be worthwhile.<\/p>\n
Bambang said he believed President Abdurrahman possessed the
\npolitical will to solve past human rights abuses as a way of
\nregaining public trust in the administration.<\/p>\n
Members of the People's Consultative Assembly have also
\npromised to consider the proposal, he said.<\/p>\n
Abdul Hakim said members of the commission should have strong
\nintegrity, be popular among the public and possess good track
\nrecords.<\/p>\n
He doubted the legal system and law enforcement agencies held
\nthe capability to deal effectively with past human rights abuses,
\ngiven that their participation would be tainted by their role in
\nthe atrocities.<\/p>\n
The police, the Attorney General's Office and the courts were
\nused by the Soeharto regime to justify its actions, he said.<\/p>\n
Oka Mahendra, an aide to the Minister of Law and Legislation,
\nsaid his office would look into the legal aspects and
\nrequirements for the establishment of a commission.<\/p>\n
He argued that present legal instruments were adequate to deal
\nwith human rights abuse.<\/p>\n
\"With the new law on human rights, which guarantees
\ntransparency in settling human rights cases, the government has
\nalready started to go that way,\" he said. (emf)<\/p>",
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