Dossiers of 11 soldiers ready for court-martial
Dossiers of 11 soldiers ready for court-martial
JAKARTA (JP): Dossiers of 11 members of the Army's Special
Force (Kopassus) will be submitted next Tuesday to a court-
martial on their role in the abductions and torture of political
activists.
"The dossiers will be submitted so the court-martial can start
soon," National Military Police chief Maj. Gen. Syamsu Djalal was
quoted by Antara news agency as saying on Tuesday.
Pius Lustrilanang -- one of the nine of an estimated 24
abducted activists who has resurfaced -- is the only one to have
expressed willingness to sign the dossiers, said Syamsu, who is
also the deputy attorney general for intelligence.
Abducted in February, Pius reappeared two months later.
In April, he was the first activist to go public with an account
of his abduction. He related episodes of torture during his
captivity and threats against his person if he spoke publicly of
his experience.
The other activists have said they will only be willing to
sign the dossiers if they are allowed to meet the 11 Kopassus
members to ask about the whereabouts of 14 other activists still
missing.
The military police said they could only meet the suspects in
the court-martial.
The independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of
Violence (Kontras) estimated that at least 24 activists went
missing beginning in April last year. One was found dead last
May. Like Pius, others who resurfaced related harrowing tales of
physical and mental torture.
The Armed Forces (ABRI) announced the alleged involvement of
Kopassus members in the abductions of political activists in
July.
Minister of Defense and Security/ABRI Chief Gen. Wiranto then
discharged former Kopassus chief Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto -- a
son-in-law of former president Soeharto -- and removed two senior
Kopassus officers from active duty in August for their
involvement in the abductions of political activists.
Syamsu said on Saturday the investigators were still looking
for further evidence to prosecute Prabowo.
Kontras' coordinator, Munir, has argued that no military
tribunal should be held until all of the missing activists
reappear because it would not be legally feasible to bring the
officers to another trial for the same case should further
evidence be found later on.
Wiranto said in August the military did not know the
whereabouts of the activists and promised to keep searching for
them.
Munir has said that ABRI, which has been battered by
revelations of alleged human rights abuses, could not afford the
disclosure of more past wrongdoing.
He said recently that ABRI was caught in "political
difficulties" over those who are still missing.
"ABRI is still calculating the implications if it announces
that there are a number of people among these 14 activists who
are already dead," he said. (byg)