Stop condemning ABRI: Wiranto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Defense and Security\/Armed Forces
\n(ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto on Monday again pleaded for an end
\nto the barrage of public condemnation against alleged military
\nabuses of human rights in the past.<\/p>\n
While admitting that rights violations had indeed occurred
\nover the decades, Wiranto argued they had been committed by
\n\"several ABRI individuals\" rather than by ABRI as an
\norganization.<\/p>\n
\"It seems, however, that those personal wrongdoings had been
\nblown up in news reports which tended to be sensationalized, as
\nif they had originated from ABRI's policies,\" he said in a
\nhearing with the House of Representatives Commission I for
\npolitical and security affairs.<\/p>\n
Rights abuses he referred to included atrocities found to have
\ntaken place in Aceh over the past nine years since 1989, and
\nincidents in Irian Jaya and East Timor. He also touched on the
\nTanjung Priok incident in North Jakarta 14 years ago.<\/p>\n
Under the shower of criticism by politicians and demands by
\nthe public that past atrocities be reinvestigated, Wiranto
\nconceded that ABRI felt it was being \"discredited and cornered\".<\/p>\n
\"If this goes on and on, it's not impossible that it could
\ndisrupt the administration of the state and the government,\" he
\nwarned without elaborating.<\/p>\n
Wiranto also called on the public not to judge \"out of
\ncontext\" the Armed Forces' past military operations, which had
\nbeen blamed for many casualties.<\/p>\n
\"ABRI's military actions did not just come up out of the blue,
\nbut there had been some preconditions in which the state's
\nexistence was at stake and so (ABRI) was assigned by the
\ngovernment to take measures,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Wiranto said \"the whole political system of the past\" -- which
\nthe House and many ministers were part of -- should be blamed if
\nsociety was to be \"proportional\" in its judgment about past
\nmistakes.<\/p>\n
\"So, judging past incidents with the current paradigm (of the
\nreform era) is just not right. We'll tend to blame one another
\nwhile forgetting to work for the future,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"It would also be unfair and unwise,\" the four-star general
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Responding to questions on ABRI's dual-function, the Armed
\nForces' policy allowing it to become involved in politics,
\nWiranto said the military \"has and would continue to adjust\" its
\nsocio-political roles.<\/p>\n
He also said that \"ABRI is hopeful of and certainly will take
\npart\" in the country's democratization process so that the system
\nwould be one that is based on the supremacy of law.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the relationship between the Armed Forces and the
\ngovernment, Wiranto said ABRI would not act as the protector of a
\n\"regime\" but a constitutional government.<\/p>\n
\"Should there be a conflict between the people and the
\ngovernment, ABRI will take a neutral stance and view the problem
\nwithin its context,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Concerning the upcoming elections, Wiranto said the Armed
\nForces would keep pushing new political parties to become more
\nindependent and qualified in order to be responsive to the
\npeople's aspirations.<\/p>\n
ABRI will also work together with parties that put the
\nnation's interests above any group interests, he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, student protests in Jakarta and Yogyakarta called
\non the Armed Forces to quit its role in politics on Monday. The
\nprotesters also demanded that high-ranking officers involved in
\natrocities against civilians over the decades to be brought to
\ntrial.<\/p>\n
Calling themselves the Committee for People's Struggle for
\nChange (KPRP), hundreds of students in Yogyakarta gathered at the
\nGadjah Mada University roundabout, attacking ABRI's dual-
\nfunction.<\/p>\n
\"The source of prolonged economic and political crisis in the
\ncountry is the military's interference in politics,\" one of the
\nprotesters said.<\/p>\n
In Central Jakarta, some 100 students voiced a similar demand
\nnear the Kebun Sirih water fountain, some 100 meters from the
\nMinistry of Defense on Jl. Merdeka Barat.<\/p>\n
The group called themselves the Committee for People's
\nStruggle against ABRI's Dual-Function (Keparad).<\/p>\n
Both protests ended peacefully. (23\/44\/swa\/aan\/imn)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/stop-condemning-abri-wiranto-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }