Activists skeptical about rights tribunal

Activists skeptical about rights tribunal

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Human rights activists expressed skepticism Tuesday on the
fairness of trials in cases of human rights atrocities scheduled
to start in February, citing the government's secrecy in
recruiting ad hoc judges who were unveiled on Monday.

"The government's reasoning that the recruitment of ad hoc
judges should be kept secret to protect the candidates' privacy
is not acceptable," the Commission for Missing Persons and
Victims of Violence (Kontras) Coordinator Ori Rahman said in a
press conference on Tuesday.

"The public needs to know about the candidates' track record,
credibility and capability," he continued.

Kontras, nevertheless, has urged government officials to
immediately enact into law legislation in areas ranging from
witness protection and compensation to rehabilitation and
restitution to support the trials.

On Monday, the government disclosed the names of 30 career and
non-career judges to fill positions as first-degree judges and
appeal judges at tribunals to for human rights violations in East
Timor in 1999 and the Tandjung Priok bloodshed in 1984.

Supreme Court Justice Benyamin Mangkoedilaga defended the
appointment of 18 ad hoc judges, saying the process complied with
the mechanism similar to the recruitment of ad hoc judges for the
court of commerce.

"There is no regulation obliging us to invite public
participation in the recruitment," he said.

"Moreover, we're only given three months to do the recruitment
and controversy over the candidates would only delay the whole
process," he told the Post.

Benyamin said he had invited prominent rights activists to
fill the positions, but they rejected.

"By law, ad hoc judges should let go of their professional
life as public notary or lawyers; the only professionals allowed
to continue in their work are academics," he said, revealing why
the team picked up scholars from fields of human rights research
and study.

He added that the government would hold a one-week training
session on rights issues for the head and their deputies of
district courts in Jakarta, North Sumatra capital of Medan,
Surabaya, and the South Sulawesi capital of Makassar.

Meanwhile, East Timor Action Network spokesman John M. Miller
expressed doubts that the court will bring proper justice, since
Megawati has limited the case brought to court into incidents
which took place in April and September 1999, on the preparation
of and after the UN-sponsored referendum on independence in East
Timor.

In his statement, made available to The Jakarta Post, Miller
said that "the multiple delays in the establishment of the court
-- earlier promised for December, then delayed to January 15th --
its limited jurisdiction, and the continued impunity with which
the Indonesian military operates ... only reinforce our belief
that the court will be a sham."