Attorney general to examine findings on Tanjung Priok deaths
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)