ABRI and human rights

ABRI and human rights

At last the long awaited step has been taken. The formation of
a Military Honor Council was announced yesterday (Tuesday) by
Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto. This demonstrates
that ABRI is sincere in its promise to thoroughly investigate the
abduction of political activists and bring the matter to a
satisfactory conclusion.

Indeed for ABRI there is no other choice. The abductions have
not only tarnished the image of the Armed Forces, but of the
Indonesian nation as whole. For this reason the case must be
resolved in an open, honest and thorough manner.

The Military Honor Council must also be given the authority to
explore whether the abductions were carried out on the initiative
of the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) alone, or whether they
were at the behest of some higher power. This is important
because generally human rights violations committed by our
security forces have all displayed a common characteristic,
namely the intention to resolve existing problems by the use of
force.

We hope that recent indications of a willingness on the part
of the authorities to settle outstanding cases of human rights
abuse will be carried to its logical conclusion, and not left
half finished. Allegations of gross human rights abuse surround
cases centering on Tanjung Priok, Lampung and Aceh. All these
cases display the same penchant for solving problems with the use
of force.

In Aceh, for example, media reports, non-governmental
organizations and eyewitness accounts all point to a human
tragedy having taken place between 1986 and 1993. More than 1,600
people have been reported missing. People were accused of
belonging to outlawed bands of insurgents then dealt with without
any recourse to the law of this land. Many of these people were
later found dead, both men and women.

The Aceh, Lampung and Tanjung Priok allegations must therefore
be thoroughly investigated by a court. We are confident that ABRI
will settle all these outstanding cases of human rights abuse in
order to uphold the principles of humanitarianism and justice,
and to try to reestablish itself as an institution worthy of our
trust.

-- Republika, Jakarta