AGO commitment to T. Priok case questioned

AGO commitment to T. Priok case questioned

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

During a hearing with Attorney General M.A. Rachman late last
month, legislator Mutamiul Ula of the Reform faction came across
what he considered irrefutable proof that the Attorney General's
Office (AGO) was not serious about prosecuting those responsible
for the 1984 Tanjung Priok bloodshed.

He found the AGO's report on the Tanjung Priok case was the
same as one given to the House of Representatives in November
last year.

"There are hardly any differences in your report. You just
changed several words. Without reading this report, I already
know the contents because this is the same report you presented
to us last year," Mutamiul told Rachman during his hearing with
House Commission II for legal and home affairs.

Outspoken legislator Dwi Ria Latifa of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) agreed, saying the
identical reports reflected the AGO's lackluster handling of the
case.

An apparently embarrassed Rachman replied: "It is because the
investigation is still underway. That is why we only changed a
few words in the report."

Rachman's reply spoke volumes about his office's response to
the public pressure for a speedy and thorough investigation into
the Tanjung Priok case.

Three years have passed since the government ordered that a
human rights tribunal be established to hear the case.

A presidential decree issued in 2000 on past human rights
violations stipulates that an ad hoc court will try only the
alleged perpetrators and masterminds of the 1999 East Timor and
Tanjung Priok human rights abuses.

The presidential decree followed the enactment of Law No.
26/2000 on human rights tribunals, which carries a maximum
sentence of death for those convicted of gross human rights
violations.

Under the international spotlight, the human rights court has
sentenced five military and civilian officials charged with
crimes against humanity in East Timor to between three and 10
years in prison. It has acquitted 15 others, sparking criticism
of Indonesia's apparent failure to deliver justice.

Unlike the East Timorese human rights victims, the victims of
the Tanjung Priok incident and their families, who have been
seeking justice for decades, will have to continue their wait to
see the perpetrators in the dock.

The Tanjung Priok bloodshed took place on Sept. 12, 1984, when
soldiers opened fire on antigovernment protesters outside a
mosque in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.

Relatives of the victims say the incident claimed more than
400 lives, while the military claims only 18 people were killed.

An investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights
(Komnas HAM) identified 33 fatalities and 55 people injured in
the violence.

The attorney general claimed during the hearing at the House
that his office could not accelerate the prosecution because of
financial constraints.

B.R. Pangaribuan, the chief of the Attorney General Office's
human rights task force, told the House commission his office
lacked the funds to bring the case before the human rights
tribunal.

"We have submitted a proposal for financing to the Directorate
General of Budget at the finance ministry, but they said our
proposal was incorrect because we asked for funds for both the
Tanjung Priok and Abepura cases. They told us to submit two
separate proposals," he said.

The Abepura case refers to alleged human rights abuses
involving security officers against civilians in Papua.

"Therefore, we have to wait for the funds because we cannot
afford to finance the process," Pangaribuan said.

However, Pangaribuan earlier promised his office would swear
in ad hoc prosecutors to handle the Tanjung Priok case early in
May.

Prosecutors have named 14 active and retired military
officers, including the current commander of the Army's Special
Forces (Kopassus), Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan, as suspects in
the incident.

Sriyanto was the head of the operational section on the North
Jakarta Military District at the time of the bloodshed.

L.B. Moerdani and Try Sutrisno, Indonesian Military chief and
Jakarta Military chief respectively at the time of the bloodshed,
were conspicuously absent from the list of suspects.

Tired of waiting for justice, some of the victims and families
of victims of the shooting decided to attempt a reconciliation
with Try. He offered some of them compensation, but others
insisted that the case should be brought to court.