Credibility of graft investigators doubted

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)