Ad hoc trial delay could harm Indonesia's image

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja , The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Another delay by President Megawati Soekarnoputri on the appointment of judges for an ad hoc human rights trial could tarnish Indonesia's image in the international arena, a political analyst said on Wednesday.

Kusnanto Anggoro of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) said that the continuing delay would also provoke demands for an international tribunal.

"The trial is part of Indonesia's international obligation; if the domestic legal process looked too weak then it could remind people of the international tribunal. That would really damage the country's image," Kusnanto told The Jakarta Post.

He made the remarks in response to the failure on the part of President Megawati Soekarnoputri to sign a presidential decree on Wednesday for the appointment of judges for the tribunal, which was scheduled for next Tuesday.

Megawati declined to sign the presidential decree, possibly because she still objected to the inclusion of certain names in the list of prospective judges.

Kusnanto gave a reminder that Indonesia still suffered from a military embargo imposed by the United States and that it would continue should the government fail to establish proper legal procedures to deal with human rights violators.

The government renewed in August last year a presidential decree on the establishment of ad hoc tribunals to try those suspected of gross human rights abuses in the 1984 Tanjung Priok and 1999 East Timor bloodshed.

New Presidential Decree No. 96/2001 clearly specifies each of the crimes against humanity to be brought to court, namely human rights violations in the Tanjung Priok shooting in September 1984 and in East Timor in April and September 1999.

The new decree, signed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri in August, 2001, overruled former presidential decree No. 53/2001, signed by then president Abdurrahman Wahid in April.

The previous decree drew protests from rights activists as it gave authority to the tribunal only to try and to hand down verdicts for rights violations that had taken place in East Timor after the self-determination ballot of Aug. 30, 1999.

On Wednesday Megawati summoned Minister of Justice and Human Rights Yusril Ihza Mahendra to discuss the list of prospective judges.

Speaking to reporters after meeting the President, Yusril said that Megawati had asked him about his position on the appointment of ad hoc judges.

"I explained that the President had to authorize only the appointment of the judges, while their selection was the task of the Supreme Court," Yusril said.

He added that the President would sign the decree as soon as possible, as his meeting on Wednesday was the last with the President on the issue of the ad hoc trial judges.

In a related development, the Indonesian Association of Judges (IKHI) also urged the President to sign the presidential decree.

"We urge the President to sign the presidential decree as the tribunal should start soon," association chairman Toton Suprapto said after meeting the President on Wednesday.

The Supreme Court submitted 12 names, comprising six for the initial trial and six others for the appeal trial, which had gone through a selection process for the tribunal, originally scheduled for early December.

Megawati never explained her reluctance to sign the decree, but it was reported by Hukumonline.com, that one of the 12 judges was I Gusti Ketut Sukarate, who had rejected an appeal demand relating to the attack on Megawati's party headquarters on July 27, 1996.