Graft law, rights tribunal rulings passed<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): With just a few days left to his term, President
\nB.J. Habibie had a busy day on Monday issuing a decree on the
\nestablishment of an independent commission to keep tabs on state
\nofficials' wealth and signing a government ruling to set up a
\nnational human rights tribunal.<\/p>\n
Apart from the independent commission, the presidential decree
\nwill also see to the establishment of a secretary-general's
\noffice to support the commission's work.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Development Supervision and
\nAdministrative Reforms Hartarto said the commission to oversee
\nstate officials' wealth is aimed at eradicating corruption. It is
\nexpected to begin effectively working in May.<\/p>\n
\"The members of the commission will be selected from the
\npublic, and all of them must get prior approval from the House of
\nRepresentatives (DPR),\" Hartarto said after an unscheduled
\nmeeting with Habibie at Merdeka Palace.<\/p>\n
The decree is a follow-up to a bill on clean governance passed
\nin April which obliges all government officials to reveal their
\nassets before and after their tenure.<\/p>\n
The President signed the bill into law a few weeks later. The
\nadministrative law is officially called the Law on State
\nAdministrators Who Are Free from Corruption, Collusion and
\nNepotism (KKN) Practices.<\/p>\n
The commission will have power to audit state officials
\nholding office for purposes of clarification and not inquiry.<\/p>\n
The law mandates the President, as the head of state, to head
\nthe Permanent Commission of Examiners to oversee state officials
\nat executive, legislative and judicatory positions, and officials
\nassigned to state companies.<\/p>\n
A court can impose a minimum punishment of two years and a Rp
\n200 million fine (US$230,000) on violators.<\/p>\n
Under the old system, officials are required to declare their
\nassets to superiors. Senior officials, including Cabinet members,
\nmust report their wealth directly to the President. However, they
\nare not obliged to report their wealth after completing state
\nduties.<\/p>\n
The government regulation for a human rights tribunal was
\nswiftly passed on Monday just a week after Minister of
\nJustice\/State Secretary Muladi said the government would issue
\nsuch a law.<\/p>\n
The regulation was issued under the backdrop of the
\ngovernment's rejection of an international human rights inquiry
\ninto alleged human rights abuses following the Aug. 30 ballot in
\nEast Timor.<\/p>\n
Indonesia immediately claimed that there was no need for such
\nan international inquiry as it would set up its own fact-finding
\nteam on East Timor.<\/p>\n
The government regulation defines the work of a national
\nrights tribunal as covering cases which include ethnic cleansing,
\nslavery, systematical discrimination and forced disappearance.<\/p>\n
Punishment for offenders range, in accordance to the crime,
\nfrom the death sentence to one year in jail.<\/p>\n
The regulation defined the tribunal as a special court formed
\nunder the auspices of the public court. (prb)<\/p>",
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