TGPF report on riots gets mixed reactions<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Criticism and praise have greeted the long-
\nawaited findings of the joint fact-finding team on the May riots
\nwhich blanketed Jakarta and other major cities.<\/p>\n
Minister of Defense and Security\/Armed Forces Commander (ABRI)
\nGen. Wiranto said on Wednesday that the team, known by its
\nacronym TGPF, had breached its authority by providing analysis of
\nthe unrest instead of compiling facts.<\/p>\n
Wiranto said before a Cabinet meeting that the team was
\nassigned under a decree of five ministers and the attorney
\ngeneral \"to gather facts... from findings and testimonies\" on
\nthe rioting in the capital and Surakarta, Palembang,
\nBandarlampung, Surabaya and Medan. Results, he said, were to be
\npresented to the officials following its completion.<\/p>\n
\"Now it has developed into (providing) analysis and I would
\nlike to remind that it is not an investigation.\"<\/p>\n
He declined to comment on the team's recommendations.<\/p>\n
The team on Tuesday presented its findings to the media in the
\nabsence of the attorney general and the ministers, including
\nWiranto, who said he and the officials were committed to other
\nfunctions. TGPF is chaired by Marzuki Darusman, a deputy of the
\nNational Commission on Human Rights.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said the team concluded that the riots, triggered by
\nthe shooting of four Trisakti University students on May 12, were
\na culmination of violent events, including kidnappings.<\/p>\n
Marzuki said then Jakarta military commander Maj. Gen. Sjafrie
\nSjamsoeddin \"did not do his job\" given lax security in the
\ncapital during the riots. The team confirmed 66 rapes. It cited
\ndata from the Volunteers for Humanity which said 1,190 people
\ndied in fires in Jakarta, 27 were killed by weapons and 33 others
\nperished in riots outside Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Among recommendations were that the government look into a May
\n14 meeting at the headquarters of the Army's Strategic Reserve
\nCommand (Kostrad) to better understand the riots.<\/p>\n
Wiranto said an investigation already conducted showed \"it was
\nan ordinary meeting\".<\/p>\n
After addressing the Indonesian Moslem Congress in East
\nJakarta earlier on Wednesday, Wiranto said follow-up of the
\nfindings would first involve verification of the report \"with
\nanalysis by related officials from a number of departments\".<\/p>\n
Legislators welcomed the findings, urging the Armed Forces and
\ngovernment to heed its recommendations.<\/p>\n
\"Most importantly, the government should act immediately to
\nfollow-up on the findings of the team,\" said Abu Hasan Sazili,
\ndeputy of the ruling Golkar grouping. Zarkasih Nur of the United
\nDevelopment Party faction concurred that the report was
\nsignificant progress in the effort to resolve lingering issues
\nfrom the riots. \"The government should show political will to act
\nfirmly on the findings of the team,\" he said.<\/p>\n
An expatriate who insisted on anonymity was encouraged by the
\nteam's forthright conclusion that the riots were stoked by a
\npower struggle among the political elite and were partly
\ninstigated by military elements.<\/p>\n
\"The fact that the riots and rapes were not spontaneously
\ncommitted by brutal mobs means two things,\" he said. \"First,
\npeople here are not as bad after all as observers abroad have
\nthought.<\/p>\n
\"Second, the probability of recurrence of riots on such a
\nmassive scale as those in May is very low.\"<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Solidaritas Nusa Bangsa group set up in support
\nof the riot victims stated on Wednesday that it \"understood the
\nteam's position which is not independent\" because military and
\npolice officials were among its 17 members.<\/p>\n
Its legal advocacy head, Hotma Timbul Hutapea, believed former
\nJakarta police chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata should also be tried
\nto determine all the parties involved in engineering the riots.<\/p>\n
Hendardi, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human
\nRights Association (PBHI), said the report showed \"results of
\nbargaining\" among parties with diverse interests.<\/p>\n
He characterized it as \"unimaginable\" that ABRI team members
\nwould have agreed to \"suicidal\" recommendations which should have
\ntargeted the Armed Forces dual social and political role.
\nHendardi described the latter as the \"source of human rights
\nabuses by ABRI\". (imn\/prb\/vin\/anr)<\/p>",
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