President Susilo should bring Soeharto to court<\/p>\n
It has been seven years since Soeharto stepped down as
\npresident on May 21, 1998, after 32 years in office. The former
\npresident remains \"untouchable\" despite allegations of human
\nrights abuses and corruption during his reign. The Jakarta Post's
\nTony Hotland interviewed political scientist Mochtar Pabottingi
\nabout Soeharto. The following is an excerpt of that interview:<\/p>\n
Question: What do you think of the recent proposal by several
\npublic figures to grant former president Soeharto amnesty?<\/p>\n
Answer: Even now we still have not seen the full damage and
\neffect of the New Order regime. We still continue to feel and
\nsuffer from the damage, the torture and the ruin of dozens of
\nyears under the leadership of Soeharto.<\/p>\n
I always say that it amounts to the betrayal of the ideals of
\nthe Republic, where the five principles of the state ideology
\nwere stomped on throughout the New Order.<\/p>\n
Could you elaborate?<\/p>\n
One principle is a fair and civilized society. Did such a
\nthing really exist? With the massacre of thousands of our
\nbrothers in 1965, without any proper trials but only on
\naccusations (that they were members of the Indonesian Communist
\nParty), and at the urging of the United States. The New Order
\nstood for so long with the support of the U.S.<\/p>\n
Another principle, a united Indonesia. Really? One of the New
\nOrder's pillars was the military, controlled by Soeharto. The
\nmilitary always says it helped unite the people, but the facts
\nshow that over the past two decades it has been the military that
\nhas been breaking the nation apart.<\/p>\n
Wasn't the military positioned to oversee development
\nprojects? And by development projects, they meant projects
\nbelonging to Soeharto and his cronies, pushed forward without
\nconsulting the People's Consultative Assembly, let alone the
\npublic. The military shot and killed people who tried to fight
\nfor themselves, kidnapped them, made them disappear ... in the
\nprocess becoming the root of the disintegration of the nation.<\/p>\n
Need one more example? Social justice. History shows that the
\neconomic disparity between the haves and the have-nots grew wider
\nand wider under the New Order.<\/p>\n
All five principles were betrayed by Soeharto's New Order. Now
\nwe want to forgive him? Is that a good lesson for the Republic?
\nWe are not only talking about Soeharto as a person, but also the
\nRepublic ... about us and what he did to the Republic. I cannot
\nfigure out what those people were thinking of (suggesting an
\namnesty for Soeharto), and I am really upset. Are we trying to
\navoid the truth?<\/p>\n
What should the current government do regarding Soeharto and
\nthe legal process surrounding him?<\/p>\n
The best thing is to put him back to trial. I think it is a
\ncomplete lie that he cannot stand trial. It is a lie that the
\ndoctors who examined him found he was unable to stand trial. How
\nmany times has Soeharto traveled to Nusa Kambangan to see his
\nfavorite son, who is a criminal? How many times have we seen him
\nwalking around? Bring him to court, let him talk ... force him to
\ntalk.<\/p>\n
I do not understand why these public figures are saying we
\nshould forget everything. We are talking about what Soeharto did
\nto the Republic. Did they consider that? It never occurred to
\nthem because they are Soeharto's men. They do not think about the
\nnation.<\/p>\n
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono refused to comment when
\nasked about the possibility of trying Soeharto.<\/p>\n
I would suggest to him, with such little chance for a trial,
\nthat the wisest and most realistic thing he could say is that it
\nis imperative to put Soeharto to trial and find the truth. But
\nmaybe not during the current administration. We may have to wait
\na while, the consequence being that Soeharto could pass away
\nfirst. But really, that is the least Susilo could say, as a
\nstatesman. But of course, he needs to mean it.<\/p>\n
The Attorney General's Office seems to be powerless to take
\naction because Soeharto's doctors say the former president is too
\nill to stand trial.<\/p>\n
I tell you, what we have today is far from anything that could
\nbe called a reform era, because today is just an extension of the
\nNew Order. And the institution where you can feel the spirit of
\nthe New Order the strongest is the judiciary. It has never been
\nan institution for justice, but rather is an institution for
\nsustaining injustice.<\/p>\n
All of the authorities, the branches of the government, simply
\ndo not want to try Soeharto, and that is a big mistake. This is
\nnot something that we can just forget. This is the very
\nfoundation of our nation that Soeharto trampled on, violated and
\nbetrayed.<\/p>\n
So you see absolutely no room for amnesty?<\/p>\n
You know, even if he should be granted amnesty, he should
\nfirst pay compensation to all of the victims of his New Order
\nregime. Select the victims, pay them and their offspring adequate
\ncompensation, give them a good education, clear their names and
\ngive them back their bruised dignity. The victims of the Tanjung
\nPriok incident, the Lampung incident ... the victims in Aceh,
\nPapua, you name it. Countless.<\/p>\n
In fact, he could have saved the country in 1998 by staying in
\npower. If he had wanted to save the country, he could have
\ngathered together all his corrupt cronies and bailed out
\nIndonesia from its mounting debts. He and his cronies were
\ncapable of doing that, but it just never occurred to Soeharto's
\nmind because he was so selfish and ungiving.<\/p>\n
If there is an amnesty, it is (first president) Sukarno's name
\nthat should be rehabilitated. His accomplishments were greater
\nthan those of Soeharto. He founded the state ideology, he is the
\nfather of our nation, whose name was tarnished by the New Order
\nthrough fabricated history.<\/p>\n
I must say that the prospects of Soeharto being put on trial
\nare small. So I suppose we can all forget about giving him
\namnesty. They can grant him amnesty after doing everything I just
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
You have given all the basic reasons for denying Soeharto an
\namnesty. Do you have any more political reasons?<\/p>\n
In a very concrete sense, the impunity that continues to
\nravage our nation comes with the fact that we are still feeling
\nthe extended arms of the New Order. Over the years, this has
\nbecome the pattern by which all cases of gross corruption and
\nhuman rights violations are conducted in this wretched and
\nperpetually betrayed nation, whose symbols and banners continue
\nto be shamelessly used and exploited.<\/p>\n
The well-kept and guarded policy of impunity in the post-
\nSoeharto era is the very knot at which all cases of gross
\ncorruption and human rights violations have been firmly stuck.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/president-susilo-should-bring-soeharto-to-court-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}