An expert questions special military tribunal

An expert questions special military tribunal

JAKARTA (JP): A constitutional-law expert questioned yesterday
the inclusion of a special military tribunal in a military
tribunal bill now being deliberated in the House of
Representatives.

Sri Soemantri, a professor at Padjadjaran University, Bandung,
told The Jakarta Post that regulations on the special military
tribunal should belong to another law because it could be imposed
on both military personnel and civilians.

"The military tribunal bill was designed to affect the
military only. It's also expected to work during peace,"
Soemantri said.

"I would say that the special military tribunal rules (should)
be incorporated into an internal security act," he added.

The government-sponsored military tribunal bill states that a
special military tribunal will be set up upon an order of the
President to try people who attempt to endanger the state.

The tribunal follows the principle of a quick and specific
trial, which bars any efforts by a convicted person to appeal in
a higher court. The convicted person can, however, hope for the
President's clemency.

The bill says that such a principle will have a deterrent
effect on the public, an effect which will prevent anybody else
from committing the same crime.

Along with the military tribunal bill, the House is
deliberating bills on mobilization and military discipline.

Soemantri warned the government against possible human rights
violations when the special military tribunal is made into
effect.

"The tribunal should enable a convicted person to appeal in a
higher court as other courts do, to avoid any human rights
offenses," he said.

The government is in the process of drawing up the internal
security act but expects to submit it to the House after the
current House term ends on Sep. 30.

Minister of Defense Edi Sudradjat has denied that the planned
internal security act would replace the controversial subversion
law, which has been widely criticized as threatening human
rights.

Soemantri said that in the past the special military tribunal
was set up in an extraordinary time. "There should be some
arguments to explain how to categorize a certain period as
extraordinary," he said.

The Indonesian government first endorsed a law on a special
military tribunal in 1963. Soumokil, a civilian accused of
holding an armed rebellion in 1950, was the first to stand trial
before a special military tribunal in April 1964. The leader of
the secessionist South Maluku Republic was sentenced to death.

In 1966, 17 military officers and top brass of the Indonesian
Communist Party were the last ones to face a special military
tribunal, which charged them with masterminding a coup attempt in
September 1965. The court sentenced all but one to death.

Another expert, Loebby Loqman of the University of Indonesia's
School of Law, differed from Soemantri. He threw his weight
behind the government's plan to include regulations on a special
military tribunal in the military tribunal bill.

"A special military tribunal deals with military activities
which endanger national security," he said.

He added that rules on a special military tribunal are
irrelevant to the planned internal security act.

Loebby said that the public's growing concern of human rights
should not prevent the establishment of a special military
tribunal.

"Should we let everybody do what they want just to show our
respect for human rights, at the expense of our country's
existence?" he asked. (amd)