AGO told to also focus on human rights cases

AGO told to also focus on human rights cases

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

A human rights watchdog urged the Attorney General's Office (AGO)
on Wednesday to prioritize the investigation of rights cases
submitted to the office by the National Commission on Human
Rights (Komnas HAM).

The Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM) said
the Attorney General's Office should investigate alleged rights
violations and restore public confidence in the country's ad hoc
rights tribunal, which lost much of its credibility in the East
Timor and Tanjung Priok trials.

"The AGO must follow up on the investigation results of rights
violation cases by Komnas HAM," Amiruddin, the head of the
information and cooperation division at ELSAM, said.

Amiruddin specifically pointed to the Trisakti, Semanggi I and
Semanggi II shootings and the May 1998 riots.

The commission has submitted the results of its own
investigations into these cases to the Attorney General's Office,
but it remains unclear whether the office will prosecute the
cases.

Komnas HAM also has investigated bloody raids against
civilians in Wasior and Wamena, both in Papua, in 2001 and 2003
respectively, and has submitted the results to the Attorney
General's Office.

ELSAM said there was no reason for the Attorney General to
ignore the Trisakti, Semanggi I and Semanggi II cases, or the
attacks in Wasior and Wamena, as they did not need approval from
the House of Representatives to prosecute the cases.

"They only need to talk to the Supreme Court about the
trials," Amiruddin said, adding that the cases were considered
rights violations.

For the case of the May 1998 riots, which is considered a
gross rights violation, ELSAM called on the Attorney General to
ask the House to establish an ad hoc rights tribunal to hear the
case.

"The AGO must make a decision on it soon in a bid to give
legal certainty both to the suspects and the victims. They have
been waiting for justice for so long," Amiruddin said.

Also for the sake of legal certainty, the Attorney General's
Office must set a schedule to settle all rights violation cases
it is currently handling, he added.

"By making a schedule, both the suspects and the victims know
that they are not being ignored. Prosecutors, too, will not be
lazy in handling the cases," Amiruddin said.

Zainal Abidin, a fellow researcher, said the Attorney General
must assign special prosecutors to handle these cases.

He said the performance of the Attorney General's Office in
handling these rights cases would affect the credibility of the
country in enforcing human rights protection.

"The failure to address the issue, however, will likely close
the opportunity for the AGO to improve its image," Zainal said.

The AGO has often been criticized for dragging its feet in
investigating rights cases and large corruption cases.

In line with the policy of new President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, Attorney General Abdul Rahman Saleh has said that he
will focus on the settlement of corruption cases.

He also has promised to examine the possible reasons behind
his office's slow response to rights violation cases.