TNI opposes truth, reconciliation<\/p>\n
Kurniawan Hari
\nThe Jakarta Post
\nJakarta<\/p>\n
Irked by allegations of involvement in numerous human rights
\nabuses, spokesmen from the Indonesian Military (TNI) expressed on
\nTuesday their opposition to a truth and reconciliation
\ncommission.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a hearing with the House of Representatives
\nspecial committee drafting the truth and reconciliation
\ncommission bill, TNI Commander Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said past
\nmistakes should not be charged under laws that would come into
\neffect later.<\/p>\n
\"According to universal practices, no law can be applied
\nretroactively,\" Endriartono explained to the lawmakers.<\/p>\n
TNI has also questioned the principle of retroactivity adopted
\nin Law No. 26\/2000 on establishment of a human rights court which
\nhas seen some of its officers found guilty of involvement in
\natrocities in East Timor in 1999. Currently, another set of
\ntrials is underway for the Tanjung Priok bloodshed of 1984.<\/p>\n
Using similar reasoning, they blocked the National Commission
\nof Human Rights' summonses for questioning of officers implicated
\nin incidents in Jakarta known as the Trisakti and Semanggi
\ntragedies in 1998 and 1999, in which several student protesters
\nwere shot dead.<\/p>\n
The House is deliberating on the formation of the truth
\ncommission, which would have the task of settling past human
\nrights violations via investigations and reconciliation meetings
\nbetween the perpetrators and victims and\/or their relatives.<\/p>\n
The lawmakers have agreed on the principle of retroactivity,
\nbut remain undecided on the extent of the period the commission
\nwill cover.<\/p>\n
Also speaking at the hearing was Ermaya Suradinata, the head
\nof the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas).<\/p>\n
Unlike Endriartono, Ermaya suggested that the truth and
\nreconciliation bill should clearly state from which point the
\nhuman rights violations could be settled through reconciliation.<\/p>\n
Responding to the suggestion, chairman of the committee
\nSidharto Danusubroto, said ideally the legislation could apply to
\nall human rights abuses that had taken place since the country's
\nindependence on Aug. 17, 1945.<\/p>\n
In the previous hearing, Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan
\nWirayuda had said the truth and reconciliation commission should
\nonly go back 30 years, thereby ruling out further investigations
\ninto the alleged coup in 1965 and the massive bloodletting that
\nfollowed.<\/p>\n
Only 20 of the 50-member committee were present at Tuesday's
\nhearing, and only five of those seemed to be actively engaged in
\nthe debate.<\/p>\n
Sidharto expressed his optimism that the truth and
\nreconciliation bill would be completed before the current House
\nmembers' tenure expired in August next year.<\/p>\n
The bill was mandated by the People's Consultative Assembly
\n(MPR) in a decree issued in 2000.<\/p>\n
It is intended to settle human rights violations that have not
\nbeen brought to a close by the current legal system.<\/p>\n
It is expected that the perpetrators or witnesses testifying
\nbefore the commission will apologize to the victims and offer
\ncompensation.<\/p>",
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