Ad hoc human rights tribunal established

Ad hoc human rights tribunal established

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid on Monday issued a
decree on the establishment of an ad hoc tribunal to prosecute
two major cases of human rights abuses, the 1984 Tanjung Priok
violence and the massacres in East Timor in 1999.

In his decree No. 53, issued on Monday, the President stated
that the establishment of the ad hoc court was based on the
proposal of the House of Representatives (DPR) as mandated by Law
No. 26/2000 on human rights abuse trials. The House itself
formally endorsed the plan last month.

According to the decree, the ad hoc court will sit at the
Central Jakarta District Court's headquarters. This district
court also shares its courthouse with the Commercial Court.

Meanwhile the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights will cover
all of the expenses involved in the establishment of the tribunal
and the procurement of all of the necessary equipment and
facilities.

"The Ad Hoc Human Rights Tribunal has the authority to try and
to hand down verdicts on the gross human rights violations that
occurred in East Timor after the self-determination vote and in
Tanjung Priok in 1984," said the President in the decree.

The House endorsed the establishment of the court late last
month.

After receiving a National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas
HAM) report that at least 24 people had been killed in the
Tanjung Priok incident, the President last July ordered Attorney
General Marzuki Darusman to probe the case. Marzuki is expected
to announce the results of his nearly one-year-long investigation
next month.

Last month, a number of the families of the victims signed a
peace compact with the Military, which was represented by, among
others, former vice president Gen. (ret.) Try Sutrisno, who was
then the Jakarta Military Commander.

Others, however, continue to press the government to try
Sutrisno and Gen. (ret.) Benny Moerdani, the former Minister of
Defense/Armed Forces Commander, for their roles in the tragedy.

In a separate investigation in January last year, the
Commission also implicated former Indonesian Military (TNI) chief
Gen. Wiranto and four other military and police generals, plus 28
civilians, as being involved in the East Timor bloodshed in
1999.(prb)