The dark tunnel of justice<\/p>\n
By Charles Himawan<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Hitherto many people believed Indonesia lacked
\nthe resources immediately to revamp its law enforcement, because
\nthis would involve a long chain, from the police to the
\nprosecutors and finally to the judges. With all these people
\ninvolved, such a process opens the door wide for corruption,
\ncollusion and nepotism.<\/p>\n
Right now the best thing is to start with law enforcement in
\nthe narrowest sense of the word, i.e. in the court room where we
\nhave to deal only with the judges.<\/p>\n
Two cases of utmost importance this week show a flicker of
\nhope in the dark tunnel of the judiciary; the judicial decisions
\nregarding former president Soeharto and his son, Hutomo Mandala
\nPutra or Tommy. To understand this important link, we have to go
\nback a few years when Soeharto was still in power and when his
\nchildren began to enter the world of business.<\/p>\n
It is a public secret that close confidantes of Soeharto, many
\nof them generals in the armed forces, often advised him to
\nrestrain his children's business activities, because Indonesia
\nwas not an extended sultanate of Surakarta, but a responsible
\nmember of the United Nations. Hence, Indonesia was required to
\nabide by the ethical tenets of the state.<\/p>\n
In a sense the generals abided by the words of caliph Abu Bakr
\n(573-634) centuries ago, who said \"true criticism is considered a
\nloyalty, and false applause is treachery\".<\/p>\n
They knew the price they would have to pay in criticizing the
\nmost powerful man in Indonesia, and they were removed from the
\ncenter of power. As Gen. MacArthur once said, they faded away.<\/p>\n
Today political analysts generally agree that one of the main
\ncauses of Soeharto's downfall was his children. They say that
\nwere it not for his children, Soeharto would have been considered
\na statesman. Assuming this is true, it is therefore justifiable
\nto punish Tommy, but not his father.<\/p>\n
Though the decision in the Soeharto case far outweighed the
\none in Tommy's case in every aspect, the two decisions bear
\nsimilarities; both sought justice, and here lies the problem.<\/p>\n
People who support Soeharto, notably his family and cronies,
\nbelieve they have the right to demand Soeharto not be put on
\ntrial, and consequently say the court decision to drop all
\ncharges against him was just.<\/p>\n
Yet those who are against the former president, notably those
\nwho suffered under his rule, called the decision unjust, because
\nthey believe they have the right to see Soeharto stand trial for
\nwhat they see as the many crimes he committed.<\/p>\n
Similarly, people who support Tommy call the decision against
\nhim unjust. On the other hand, people who are against him call
\nthe decision just, because they believe Tommy must have done
\nsomething improper to have been able to amass such wealth in
\nIndonesia's business environment, where corruption is normally
\nthe rule rather than the exception.<\/p>\n
To avoid the pitfalls of these differing views, which are
\nsubject to the moods and interests of particular groups of
\npeople, we should speak of \"human justice\", not \"people's
\njustice\"; just like we speak of human rights, not people's
\nrights. Like human rights, human justice is universal and
\ntranscends the interest of a particular group and state.<\/p>\n
One advantage of seeing the issue from the point of view of
\nhuman justice is that we are not strictly bound by the black-and-
\nwhite rules of the Code of Criminal Procedures, which has been
\nthe only point of reference.<\/p>\n
To go beyond this \"shackle\" and to enter the realm of legal
\nphilosophy is the work of the Supreme Court, and not that of the
\ndistrict court or the court of appeal. And here we come to
\nanother topic beyond the scope of this discussion -- how to find
\nclean judges, the lack of which was recently lamented by
\nPresident Abdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
Despite the suffering brought by the economic crisis of the
\npast two and a half years, people longing for peace may come to
\nrealize that the two decisions do reflect human justice, though
\nnot people's justice.<\/p>\n
If they can see this, then the judges will become heroes. But
\nif the people of Indonesia see the court decisions as simply
\nreflecting the people's rights, then one group will see the
\njudges as villains and the other will see them as heroes.<\/p>\n
If this continues to be the main philosophy of life there is
\nlittle hope for national reconciliation, and therefore little
\nprospect for political and social peace, and for lifting
\nIndonesia out of the economic mire in the immediate future.<\/p>\n
The writer is a member of the Human Rights Commission and a
\nprofessor of law at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta.<\/p>",
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