Draft of new bill on rights tribunal to be finished soon

Draft of new bill on rights tribunal to be finished soon

JAKARTA (JP): The final draft of a new bill on a human rights
tribunal which specifically encloses a retroactive clause to try
past rights abuses will be completed on Feb. 21.

The new bill is in anticipation of the likely rejection by the
House of Representatives of an earlier submitted regulation
drafted under former President B.J. Habibie.

The new bill will incorporate several elements that the
earlier regulation did not, and, if passed, could be used to try
senior officers and officials alleged to have been involved in
the violence that swept East Timor before and after the Aug. 30
ballot.

Romli Atmasasmita, the director general of law at the Ministry
of Law and Legislation, said the current draft of the bill,
currently in its eighth revision, will undergo public scrutiny in
a final roundtable discussion with legal experts and other
government, military and police officials on Feb. 16.

Last amendments will then be made before the final draft is
signed by Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril Ihza Mahendra.

From there, it will be sent to the Secretary of State's office
before being officially presented to the House of Representatives
before the end of the month.

Legislators and senior government officials have indicated
that the previously submitted government regulation on a human
rights tribunal would be rejected. The regulation was drafted by
then justice minister Muladi.

Many view the changes to the new bill as being spurred by
efforts to uphold justice following the violence in East Timor.

A government-sanctioned inquiry on rights abuses in East Timor
has stated that former Military chief Gen. Wiranto and other
senior officers and officials should be held accountable for the
violence and recommended the Attorney General's office conduct an
investigation into the matter.

However, Indonesia at present does not have the necessary
legal instruments by which to satisfactorily try them.

Both the submitted government regulation and Indonesia's
criminal code does not recognize collective responsibility for a
crime. Neither do they apply retroactively. Meaning that even if
the current regulation was applied the suspects could not be
tried under it as the alleged crime occurred prior to the
regulation's application.

Romli pointed on Friday to the retroactive clause and articles
on guilt by omission as distinct elements of the new bill not to
be found in its predecessor.

He said that with the article classifying guilt by omission no
officer or official could hide behind their status if they were
in anyway responsible for a crime.

"In this draft impunity is discarded," he said during a
briefing to update the media on the progress of the bill.

Romli said that the retroactive clause as it currently stands
has no time limit.

A key element to any fair trial are the judges. Romli said
that the bill was currently proposing a five member panel which
would be comprised of two career judges and three ad hoc ones who
could be appointed from outside the formal legal profession. (01)