House gives no impunity to rights criminals<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
House of Representatives speaker Akbar Tandjung said on Wednesday
\nthat the legislative body would not allow any suspected
\nperpetrators of crimes against humanity to escape prosecution.<\/p>\n
\"We have proven our stance by recommending the establishment
\nof a human rights tribunal for the East Timor cases in 1999 and
\nthe Tanjung Priok incident in 1984,\" Akbar said during the
\nopening speech of a discussion here.<\/p>\n
Akbar was responding to people's doubts of the House
\nlegislators' commitment to promote human rights because, as
\nmembers of political parties, they are subject to political deals
\nwith those held responsible for past human rights abuses.<\/p>\n
According to Article 43 of Law No. 26\/2000 on the human rights
\ncourt, the House has the right to recommend the establishment of
\nan ad hoc rights trial to hear past cases.<\/p>\n
\"To avoid such impunity, the community can exercise full
\ncontrol so as to warn legislators against ignoring gross human
\nrights violations in the past, which may hurt people's sense of
\njustice,\" Akbar said.<\/p>\n
The House, however, failed to live up to people's expectation
\nwhen it announced that it could not find any human rights
\nviolations during the incident at Trisakti University in May 1998
\nand the two others near Semanggi in November 1998 and September
\n1999. Dozens were killed in the violence which involved security
\ntroops shooting unarmed students.<\/p>\n
The House recommended that the cases be brought to military
\ncourt instead.<\/p>\n
The House's recommendation, however, is not a dead end for the
\nongoing inquiry held by the National Commission on Human Rights
\n(Komnas HAM) because the House's special committee investigating
\nthe cases was established before the 2000 Human Rights Law took
\neffect.<\/p>\n
The discussion, held by the National Executive Board of Pemuda
\nPancasila, was attended by military officers, including former
\nArmed Forces chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto and the new Indonesian
\nMilitary (TNI) spokesman Maj. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.<\/p>\n
Also in the day, the National Police announced that it, like
\nthe TNI, rejected the inquiry and asserted that it would not
\nallow its officers to appear for questioning in connection with
\nthe incidents.<\/p>\n
The inquiry's secretary, Usman Hamid, deplored the resistance
\nof both the military and police, saying it would discourage
\nefforts to unravel the cases and provide justice for the people.<\/p>\n
\"All this debate on the articles of the law and the weaknesses
\nof the existing laws should not delay this process, because it
\nmeans a betrayal of justice,\" he remarked.<\/p>\n
Lawyers representing retired and active military officers have
\nordered the House to move against the Komnas HAM to stop an
\ninquiry into the three high-profile incidents.<\/p>\n
Head of the Indonesian Military's legal affairs department,
\nMaj. Gen. Timor Manurung said his team would file a complaint
\nwith the House for all steps taken by the inquiry against his
\nclients, which he described as an \"assault\".<\/p>\n
\"We call on the House as the controlling body of all state
\napparatuses, including Komnas HAM, to put a halt to the inquiry,\"
\nTimor said on the sidelines of a seminar on the human rights
\ntribunal.<\/p>\n
The letter would be sent next week, Timor said, in which TNI
\nwould request the House to grill Komnas HAM members in connection
\nwith the inquiry into the three incidents.<\/p>\n
The inquiry has summoned dozens of police and military
\nofficers who were in charge when the shootings took place for
\nquestioning, but only one of them turned up.<\/p>\n
Timor said TNI took issue with the legal authority of some
\nKomnas Ham members, saying not all of them were chosen by the
\nHouse of Representatives -- which has a large Military faction
\nwithin the body -- as stipulated by Law No. 39\/1999 on Komnas
\nHAM.<\/p>\n
\"For that reason, Komnas HAM should not be doing any of this,
\nespecially issuing subpoenas,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Last month, the Central Jakarta District Court seemingly put
\nto an end the controversy over the legitimacy of the rights
\ncommission, claiming that KPP indeed had legal authority,
\nincluding subpoena powers. But the military remains defiant.<\/p>\n
Rallies for and against the inquiry have taken place recently.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/house-gives-no-impunity-to-rights-criminals-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }