`Don't charge GAM members with terrorism'
`Don't charge GAM members with terrorism'
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A legal observer said the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) was a
political movement aimed at achieving independence from
Indonesia, therefore the government could not charge its members
and supporters under the law on terrorism.
"It would be correct if police and prosecutors charged
suspected GAM members under the Criminal Code, particularly the
articles on treason, as the activities of GAM are merely attempts
to break up the country's sovereignty," Rudy Satrio, a criminal
law professor at the University of Indonesia, told The Jakarta
Post over the weekend.
Rudy warned of rampant human rights violations should police
and prosecutors press ahead with terrorism charges against
suspected GAM members and supporters.
GAM has been fighting for independence for the resource-rich
Aceh since 1976. At least 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have
been killed in the province during this struggle.
The government launched an all-out military campaign in Aceh
on May 19 in a bid to stamp out the secessionist movement.
Police in Aceh have charged suspected members and backers of
GAM with terrorism, which allows the suspects to be detained and
questioned without the presence of lawyers, as required under the
country's Criminal Code.
Article 5 of the terrorism law states that terrorism is not a
political crime, a crime with a political motivation or a crime
with political goals.
Rudy criticized police investigators for arbitrarily applying
the law on terrorism against suspected GAM members and supporters
to allow them to question the suspects without the presence of
defense lawyers.
"A suspect has the right to be accompanied by a lawyer. It has
become a universal standard. The authorities cannot abandon this.
They have the obligation to provide lawyers if charges against
suspects are punishable by a minimum of five years of
imprisonment," he said.
Rudy said the government's declaration of martial law in Aceh
on May 19 did not abrogate this obligation.
Law No. 15/2003 on terrorism allows police to detain a terror
suspect for three days without notifying the suspect's lawyer or
family.
Some lawyers in Aceh told the Post that the authorities
refused to allow them to accompany their clients during
questioning. They said their clients were mostly civilians,
including rights activists, who had been detained for alleged
involvement with GAM.
Some civilians have been arrested without warrants and police
in Aceh failed to notify their families, the lawyers said.
Hendardi, chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human
Rights Association, said the police were "making a serious
mistake in defining the law enforcement operation in Aceh by
arresting civilians arbitrarily".
"It is a very unacceptable mistake, as they think they can
take away all the basic rights of Indonesian citizens in Aceh
following the imposition of martial law," Hendardi said.
Rudy said the courts in Aceh must reject any cases submitted
by prosecutors if the police failed to follow the Criminal Code
Procedure.
"If a case is based on an arbitrary arrest, the courts must
reject it. I hope the courts have the guts to do this," he said.
The Aceh Prosecutor's Office announced on Saturday it would
indict five GAM negotiators who represented the group in the now-
defunct Joint Council.
The negotiators are Sofyan Ibrahim Tiba, Tengku Nasrudin bin
Ahmed, Amni bin Ahmad Marzuki, Teuku Kamaruzaman and Muhammad
Usman Lampoh Awe.
The head of the prosecutor's office, T.N. Lutfi, said earlier
that the suspects had been charged with treason and terrorism,
the latter charge related to a series of bombings across the
country that GAM has been accused of.
The office is currently working on the dossiers of six other
suspected GAM members, including woman's activist Cut Nur Asikin.
Police have accused Cut of leading Inong Balee, a women's
military wing of GAM. She was one of the first alleged GAM
members arrested following the imposition of martial law in the
province.