Who will break Soeharto's code of silence?<\/p>\n
By Donna K. Woodward<\/p>\n
MEDAN, North Sumatra (JP): It has finally begun. No doubt
\ndisgusted by the hypocrisy of Attorney General Andi Ghalib,
\nsomeone privately sent documentation of his corruption to the
\nIndonesian Corruption Watch.<\/p>\n
But more than anonymous reports will be needed for the
\nprosecution of the Soehartos for their corruption and human
\nrights violations. Unlike the bumbling Ghalib, the Soehartos were
\ncunning in their modus operandi. They concealed their assets
\nwhile they still were in control. They wove webs that entrapped
\nhundreds of complicitous officials and businesspeople.<\/p>\n
Soeharto was clever enough not simply to steal: he colluded,
\nmaking ministers, generals and company commissioners his partners
\nin crime. Who, then, will want to come forward to give evidence
\nagainst Soeharto, if by doing so they implicate themselves?<\/p>\n
Recently, the United States media reported the vicious assault
\nof a young Hispanic New Yorker by a white policeman. The only
\nwitnesses to the police officer's racist sadism were other
\nofficers. Who would testify honestly?<\/p>\n
Like other military-like bureaucracies, the New York City
\nPolice Department (NYPD) has a strong culture of solidarity among
\nits members. Officers entrust their lives to each other every
\nday. They face life-threatening situations together, and
\nsometimes die in each other's arms. In return, they expect the
\nultimate loyalty from one another.<\/p>\n
The NYPD culture is one of solidarity and silence. If an
\nofficer is accused of a violation, other officers keep their
\nunwritten pledge of loyalty and silence. Down the decades, this
\n\"blue wall of silence\" permitted a subculture of abuse of
\nauthority, racism and corruption to pervade the police
\ndepartment.<\/p>\n
But in the late 1960s, Officer Frank Serpico broke the wall of
\nsilence when he reported criminal complicity between police
\nofficers and drug dealers. His story made headlines and it made
\nHollywood. The sacrosanct code of silence, though not permanently
\ndestroyed, was irrevocably cracked. And when, earlier this year,
\nthe accused New York City police officer was brought to trial for
\nhis crimes against the Hispanic youth, fellow officers did
\ntestify truthfully, including some who as accessories to his
\ncrimes implicated themselves by doing so.<\/p>\n
Who will break the Soeharto regime's code of silence?<\/p>\n
Where is the minister or governor who will come forward and
\nsay forthrightly: \"This is how it worked. This is how money was
\nchanneled to me from those who needed my signature, and this is
\nhow I was expected to channel money to Soeharto.\"<\/p>\n
Who is the general who will speak courageously about what he
\nwitnessed or participated in, and who gave the orders? Which
\nyayasan director will honestly admit how his foundation's funds
\nwere misused or misdirected to nonfoundation enterprises, and
\nwhere the pressure came from for this misuse? What bank president
\nwill describe how Soeharto forced the approval of loans to his
\nchildren and their companies? And what about that most despicable
\noffense of all, the haj tax? Are there no parents or grandparents
\nwho will join their children as heroes of reform by speaking the
\ntruth?<\/p>\n
To do so would be to put oneself metaphorically in the line of
\nfire, as the students literally did. By testifying about their
\nown roles in corruption, people could become liable to
\nprosecution themselves, unless a form of immunity or amnesty were
\nintroduced. At the very least, shameful personal conduct would
\nbecome public.<\/p>\n
But let's be candid; those government and military officials
\nwho have sent their children to school overseas and purchased
\nluxury cars and homes and furnishings and Rolex watches,
\nostensibly on government salaries, are not fooling anyone.<\/p>\n
Neither are those who mysteriously accumulated enough capital
\nto purchase businesses and properties which later gave them and
\ntheir children a veneer of respectable wealth.<\/p>\n
Whether we are considering an Andi Ghalib who was blinded
\nenough by greed to receive a huge sum of money in a short time,
\nor some director general who was discrete enough to pace the
\ngrowth of his bank account more carefully, all thinking persons
\ncan deduce from where the wealth has come. From a career of
\ncorruption.<\/p>\n
A person's brave public admission of past corruption would not
\nreally come as a surprise; have we not all been corrupt? What
\nwould be seen as remarkable would be the individual's courage.
\nCourage emboldens. One person's act of courage will trigger
\nothers.<\/p>\n
To reach Soeharto's crimes and his wealth, this is what is
\nneeded -- a growing chorus of truthful disclosures by former
\nloyalists who know in their souls that the conspiracy of silence
\nshould end. The young leaders of the reform movement need the
\nearlier generations' government, military and business leaders to
\njoin the movement. They need admissions: \"I became a part of that
\nsystem because it rewarded me and my family. I closed my eyes to
\nall the dirty business I had to do. This is how it worked. Now I
\nask your forgiveness.\"<\/p>\n
Your children will forgive you and venerate your final
\ntruthfulness. Sooner or later this will happen. Whose voice will
\nbe first? Who will enter Indonesian reform-era history as the man
\nor woman who broke Soeharto's mafia-like code of silence?<\/p>\n
The writer is president director of PT Far Horizons, Medan.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/who-will-break-soehartos-code-of-silence-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }