Attorney general to examine findings on Tanjung Priok deaths

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Saturday his office would examine the findings of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM)'s investigation into the 1984 Tanjung Priok incident.

"We'll examine further (all the findings) in our investigation," Marzuki said after formally receiving the commission's revised final report on the case from Komnas HAM chairman Djoko Sugianto.

Based on investigations since March this year by a special commission established by Komnas HAM, the final report identifies 23 people the commission recommends be named suspects in the bloody shooting by the military.

Both Marzuki and Djoko refused to disclose the identities of the 23.

"It's the authority of the investigator (attorney general)," Djoko said as quoted by Antara.

Marzuki said: "We still have to evaluate the results and start a thorough investigation before disclosing the identities of those the commission recommends be questioned."

But a staffer at the commission told The Jakarta Post a day earlier the 23 were from the military, and were between the ranks of private and general.

"The generals include (former vice president) Gen. (ret) Try Soetrisno and (former Armed Forces) chief Gen. (ret) L.B. Moerdani," the source said,

Try was the Jakarta Military commander at the time of the incident, while Moerdani was Armed Forces chief. Try later served as vice president from 1988 to 1993.

In the preliminary inquiry, both Try and Moerdani dismissed accusations they had instructed troops to fire on protesters.

The source also said the commission identified as possible suspects Brig. Gen. Soenardi, the former director of the Army's RSPAD Gatot Soebroto Hospital, and several officers from the Jakarta Military Command, including Maj. Gen. (ret) Pranowo, the former director-general of immigration.

Soenardi is accused of being involved in the disappearance of the victims' medical records, he said.

The source added that the number of potential suspects could increase, depending on the results of a further investigation to be conducted by the Attorney General's Office.

The 1984 violence erupted following sermons at Tanjung Priok Rawa Badak Mosque critical of the government. The military claimed 40 people died in the clash, while eyewitnesses said they saw a truck loaded with charred bodies.

An initial inquiry by the commission-sanctioned investigative team was held in March. But the team failed to uncover either victims or evidence, including the autopsy reports of the victims.

A new inquiry team set up by the commission exhumed the bodies of several victims, finding evidence of humans rights abuses. The exhumations also revealed the authorities had given false reports about the number of bodies buried in certain locations.

In the report handed over to Marzuki on Saturday, the commission stated there were 33 known fatalities in the incident, including 14 people whose identities remain unknown and a Chinese-Indonesian family of eight and their servant.

It said the number of people injured in the violence was at least 55.

The commission also found RSPAD hospital had destroyed the records of the 23 victims treated at the hospital. The hospital claims it is routine practice to destroy all records after five years.

The commission concluded that serious human rights violations, including summary killings, unlawful arrest and detention, torture and enforced and involuntarily disappearances, had occurred in the 1984 bloodshed in North Jakarta.

According to the commission, the violence was the responsibility of those military personnel present on the ground during the violence, their operational commanders and the military's top brass at the time of the incident.

"This case should be handled as an abuse of human rights and not as a general crime," Djoko said. (bby/bsr)