Wiranto criticizes rights commission over Aceh probe<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto lashed out
\nat the National Commission on Human Rights yesterday for going
\npublic with its alleged number of victims of rights violations in
\nAceh without checking with the military first.<\/p>\n
Gen. Wiranto, who is also the minister of defense and
\nsecurity, said he doubted whether all the figures announced by
\nthe commission were victims of military atrocities.<\/p>\n
The figures were entirely based on skeletons and bones
\nexcavated from graves by the commission's fact-finding team, he
\ntold reporters ahead of a Cabinet meeting at the Bina Graha
\npresidential office.<\/p>\n
Some of these skeletons could have been victims of the
\ncommunist uprising in 1965, he said, adding: \"Skeletons don't
\ntalk, do they?\"<\/p>\n
Commission secretary-general Baharudin Lopa, who led the fact-
\nfinding team to Aceh last week, announced Monday that it had
\ncompiled reports of at least 782 people killed during nine years
\nof military operations against the local separatist movement
\nbetween 1989 and this year.<\/p>\n
Other findings listed by the commission include reports that:<\/p>\n
* 368 people were tortured,<\/p>\n
* 168 people are still missing,<\/p>\n
* 3,000 women were widowed,<\/p>\n
* between 15,000 and 20,000 children were orphaned.<\/p>\n
Wiranto earlier this month personally apologized to the people
\nof Aceh for the excesses of the military operations and ordered
\nthe withdrawal of combat troops from the province starting last
\nweek.<\/p>\n
Yesterday, he criticized the rights commission's announcement
\nas \"not conducive\" to the nation's development drive.<\/p>\n
\"The public needs accurate, objective and healthy information.
\nDon't give them information that will only start a polemic,\" he
\nsaid, adding: \"This is a very sensitive issue.\"<\/p>\n
He said that going by the commission's figure of 700 deaths
\nand 3,000 women widowed and up to 20,000 children orphaned, \"then
\nthis means each man in Aceh had more than three wives... and
\neach of the widows had six children\".<\/p>\n
He appealed for wisdom in treating these findings to help
\npreserve national unity and cohesion.<\/p>\n
\"These were findings that have no legal footing. These should
\nbe cross-checked with other findings so that we can arrive at
\ntruly tested and measured conclusions, backed with accurate data.<\/p>\n
\"If every single finding is announced to the public
\nimmediately, then where is the moral responsibility?\" he asked.<\/p>\n
Antara meanwhile reported yesterday that the chief of the
\nLiliwangsa military command in Aceh appealed to Acehnese people
\nin hiding or living in exile in Malaysia to come home.<\/p>\n
Col. Dasiri Musnar told the news agency in the industrial town
\nof Lhokseumawe that the government would grant them amnesty if
\nthey returned and helped rebuild the province.<\/p>\n
\"I guarantee their safety. Not a single hair of theirs will be
\ntouched if they return with honest and clean intentions,\" Col.
\nDasiri was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
He said the offer of amnesty had been extended since July
\n1997, but many people were not convinced of the sincerity of the
\noffer.<\/p>\n
\"They should know that the task of building our villages falls
\non no one but ourselves,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the offer was not mere lip service but came from the
\nbottom of his heart.<\/p>\n
\"Rest assured that if they return to build their villages,
\nthey'll have nothing to worry about, especially now that the
\nregional military operation status has been lifted from Aceh.\"<\/p>\n
He also said that those who still had doubts about the offer
\ncould call him on 0645-43196 to ask for his personal guarantee
\nbefore coming home.<\/p>\n
In Medan, the rights commission's secretary-general, Baharudin
\nLopa, said yesterday the finding it had announced was \"mere data\"
\nand have yet to be processed before submitted as recommendation
\nto the government.<\/p>\n
He promised that the commission would soon hold a plenary
\nsession and prepare the recommendation.<\/p>\n
\"Our notes have yet to be finalized,\" he said. (prb\/emb\/21)<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wiranto-criticizes-rights-commission-over-aceh-probe-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }