Alwi Shihab's 'killer nations'

I was greatly astounded by the remark of our Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Alwi Shihab, regarding the controversy of an international tribunal for Indonesian generals who allegedly conducted war crimes. His remarks, as quoted in Republika daily on Dec. 8, contained two dangerously misleading, flawed ideas.

He was quoted as saying that if the international tribunal for the generals was conducted, Indonesia would be placed on a par with countries like Rwanda and Kosovo, which have been labeled as "killer nations".

What a belligerently harsh statement. Anyone with sufficient knowledge would easily discern that the term should not be designated to a nation's people, but rather to a few blood- thirsty individuals from a particular institution. I do not believe they are all killers.

I was wondering if Dr. Alwi, a top scholar of Islam, still remembers a basic teaching of the religion: that all human beings (including Jews, of course) are fundamentally hanif, or tend to lead themselves in the direction of goodness.

Second, Dr. Alwi evidently equates the alleged generals as representatives of Indonesian people (by the way, has he consulted the House of Representatives about what constitutes "representativeness"?). Thus in his view, defending alleged generals from international tribunals for the violation of human rights means defending the people's interests. How fine is your reasoning, Dr. Alwi!

MUKTI

Jakarta