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)