Questioning impunity in human rights abuses<\/p>\n
Imanuddin, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The country's legal supremacy is at stake following the
\ndefiance by the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police
\non behalf of the military and police officers allegedly
\nimplicated in the 1998 and 1999 Trisakti, Semanggi I and Semanggi
\nII shooting incidents, to a summons from the human rights
\ncommission.<\/p>\n
The latest no-shows were three police generals -- former
\nNational Police chief Gen. (ret) Dibyo Widodo, his successor Gen.
\n(ret) Roesmanhadi and former Jakarta Police chief Comr. Gen.
\nNugroho Djajoesman -- who did not show up for the second summons
\nissued by the Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Violations
\n(KPP HAM) on Thursday.<\/p>\n
A previous rejection occurred on Jan. 31 when all four of the
\ntop officers scheduled to be questioned failed to appear. They
\nwere former armed forces chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto, and the three
\npolice generals.<\/p>\n
The officers' rejection of the summons was criticized by the
\nSecretary General of the National Commission on Human Rights
\n(Komnas HAM) Asmara Nababan, who accused the officers of a lack
\nof understanding on whether or not the legislature (DPR) can
\nissue a legal recommendation on the matter.<\/p>\n
Asmara said the House's conclusion that they did not violate
\nhuman rights, issued last year, was not a legal decision and
\ntherefore KPP HAM may legally embark on a fresh round of
\ninvestigations.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, chairman of the inquiry commission Albert Hasibuan
\nsaid the inquiry should go ahead for the sake of legal certainty.<\/p>\n
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto, however, has
\ndefended the military's stance in rejecting the very existence of
\nthe inquiry, saying that the TNI would not turn its personnel
\nover for questioning as the House had made the decision not to
\ncategorize the three incidents as gross human rights violations.<\/p>\n
Law No. 26\/2000 on the human rights courts entitles the House
\nto recommend which violations should be brought before the rights
\ntribunal.<\/p>\n
Endriartono also asked the commission to respect the decision
\nof the House because \"it is a decision arrived at between the
\nHouse and the government\".<\/p>\n
Similarly, the TNI leadership said on Jan. 7 that a KPP HAM
\ninvestigation was irrelevant and they saw no need to comply,
\nsince the House had already conducted their investigation
\nconcluding that there were no gross human rights violations in
\nthe shooting incidents.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Wiranto had defended the military, saying that the
\nTNI did not intend to violate human rights as \"they were only
\ntrying to guard the country from more massive riots, as well as
\nto secure the national agenda.\"<\/p>\n
The former coordinating minister for political and security
\naffairs also reminded all national leaders that their current
\npositions were secured because of the military's action and
\nsacrifice during the incidents.<\/p>\n
The 11-member KPP HAM Semanggi-Trisakti inquiry was
\nestablished by Komnas HAM on Aug. 27, 2001.<\/p>\n
The inquiry team is in charge of investigating the May 12,
\n1998 shooting of demonstrators at Trisakti University, West
\nJakarta and similar incidents at the Semanggi flyover in South
\nJakarta which claimed 13 lives in November 1998 and one in
\nSeptember 1999.<\/p>\n
Four students were killed in the Trisakti tragedy, which
\ntriggered major riots in Jakarta and other cities across the
\ncountry, eventually developing into anti-Chinese rioting.<\/p>\n
It led to the downfall of former president Soeharto on May 21
\n1998.<\/p>\n
The first Semanggi incident took place in November 1998 when
\nhundreds of students staged a massive demonstration to oppose the
\nimposition of emergency laws giving the military greater powers
\nto quell unrest.<\/p>\n
The second Semanggi case involved security personal shooting
\nat student demonstrators opposing then president B.J. Habibie's
\npresidential nomination in September 1999.<\/p>\n
The Komnas HAM-established inquiry had directly summoned 19
\nArmy and police officers to appear for questioning after its
\nletters to both the Army Headquarters and the National Police
\nHeadquarters asking for permission to question them went
\nunheeded.<\/p>\n
The investigation into the case could end in a stalemate as
\nboth KPP HAM and the TNI\/Police have based their arguments on
\ndifferent laws. The KPP HAM based its rights to investigate the
\ncase on the Law. No. 39\/1999 on human rights, while the
\nTNI\/Police on the Law. No. 26\/2000.<\/p>\n
In light of the deadlock in the legal aspects of the case,
\nmany have suggested that the country's highest authorities take
\nthe initiative to make the investigation proceed smoothly, within
\nexisting laws and regulations.<\/p>\n
Human rights lawyer Bambang Widjojanto suggested that the
\nSupreme Court should take the initiative to issue a legal opinion
\non the matter, similar to the one that Chief Justice Bagir Manan
\nhad issued a day before the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR)
\ndecided on July 23, 2001 to remove Abdurrahman Wahid from the
\npresidency.<\/p>\n
At the time, Bagir issued a fatwa (legal opinion) that
\n\"mediated\" the arguments between the then government of
\nAbdurrahman and the MPR on the validity of holding the Special
\nSession to seek the president's accountability of his
\ngovernment's performance. Bagir declared that the Special Session
\nwas lawful.<\/p>\n
Such an initiative could also be taken by the President as the
\nsupreme commander of the Indonesian Military to instruct the
\ncontinuation of the investigation into the cases.<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri had taken a significant
\ndecision last year when her government renewed in August a
\npresidential decree on the establishment of ad hoc tribunals to
\ntry those suspected of gross human rights abuses in the 1984
\nTanjung Priok shooting incident in North Jakarta and the 1999
\nbloodshed in East Timor.<\/p>\n
The new Presidential Decree No. 96\/2001 clearly specifies each
\nof the crimes against humanity to be brought to court, namely the
\nhuman rights violations in the Tanjung Priok shooting in
\nSeptember 1984, and in East Timor in April and September 1999.<\/p>\n
Similar expectations now are that the President should make a
\ndecision to issue a decree on the investigation into the 1998 and
\n1999 shooting incidents in the capital.<\/p>\n
Only time will tell whether the Chief Justice and the
\nPresident will take the initiatives to help settle the matter and
\nuphold the law in the country. Or will impunity continue to rule?<\/p>",
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