Credibility of graft investigators doubted

JAKARTA (JP): Human rights campaigner Marzuki Darusman cast doubt yesterday on whether the attorney general's office could fulfill its pledge to investigate alleged corrupt practices under former president Soeharto.

"I think the statement may have been made with good intentions but it certainly lacks credibility because the workings of the attorney general's office in the past reflected an incapacity to address corruption cases," said Marzuki, who is deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights.

Marzuki said his skepticism stemmed from the fact that there were a number of corruption cases in the past which remained unsolved by the existing attorney general's office.

"This casts doubt on their capabilities and professionalism to tackle such sensitive issues," Marzuki told reporters after a ceremony in which the commission received an Australian government grant to upgrade its staff capabilities.

Marzuki therefore urged President B.J. Habibie to appoint an independent special commission to probe alleged abuses during Soeharto's 32 year rule.

"It is a test of his leadership to appoint someone who is credible. It is up to Habibie," he remarked.

Vengeance

While fully supporting the establishment of a commission to look into Soeharto's alleged power abuses, Marzuki also urged the government to act quickly in order to prevent the current mood from deviating from a search for justice into full-blown vengeance against Soeharto and his family.

"The government needs to step in quickly and decisively to avoid possible reprisals," Marzuki said.

He was also of the opinion that Soeharto and his family should remain free until the commission is set up, because "they have the same rights as every other Indonesian".

Once the commission was in place, some action could be taken to ensure their "availability to testify", he said.

Opposition figure Amien Rais recently suggested that Soeharto and his family be barred from traveling abroad, in case they decided to flee to avoid issues pertaining to their wealth.

Marzuki said he deplored recent reports from several provinces that students and other groups had taken drastic measures demanding the removal of certain officials perceived as corrupt.

He feared that such moves could completely lose their sense of justice and asserted that the presidential commission should also handle such cases.

"We are concerned that the prevailing sense of justice is evolving into emotions for vengeance and reprisals. It is a very unfortunate and unhealthy development which the whole country must try to avoid," Marzuki said.

In addition to appointing an "independent commission or committee under the auspices of the government", the government should also urge the people to "forgive", Marzuki said.

"But the truth still needs to be revealed if the public is going to be asked to understand. To forgive and forget, they need to know what they are being asked to forgive."

Marzuki's comments followed a plea Monday by Megawati Soekarnoputri, the daughter of Indonesia's first president Sukarno, urging Indonesians to leave the 76-year-old Soeharto and his family in peace.

Senior political scientist Miriam Budiardjo called for patience since a probe into the possible abuses by Soeharto and his family would need time before it could be completed.

"The authorities must have evidence, and evidence is not always easy to come by," Miriam, who is also a member of the rights commission, told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

"There are a lot of stories circulating of course, but to get evidence, that's going to be a problem," she added.

Separately, University of Indonesia criminologist Mulyana W. Kusumah said that Habibie should now initiate a national anticorruption campaign.

Mulyana said that under the Soeharto government, corruption, collusion and nepotism were untouchable subjects.

"Based on criminology, it is called an area of no enforcement," Mulyana, who is also secretary-general of the Independent Committee for Election Monitoring (KIPP), said.

Mulyana also said that authorities should immediately impose travel bans on individuals suspected of corrupt practices before they decided to flee the country.

"We are racing against time," Mulyana said. (byg)