East Timor case a whitewash
East Timor case a whitewash
From Jurnal Indonesia
The Attorney General's Office announced on Sept. 1, 2000, 19 "possible suspects" in the East Timor violence.
General Wiranto and other leaders of the Indonesian Military, which were earlier recommended by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) after an investigation, were not mentioned. This was because of manipulation of, and deviation from, the meaning of human rights crimes by the Attorney General's Office.
The United Nations International Commission of Inquiry and Komnas HAM have both said that the East Timor violence involved "extraordinary human rights crimes" that belong to the category of "crimes against humanity".
In the hands of the Attorney General's Office, the results of the case have been moved aside and minimized in terms of meaning and viewpoint to "ordinary crimes".
This deviation of meaning and viewpoint became clear when the Attorney General's Office broke up the violence into five big cases. With such a strategy, the office intended to cut the chain of political responsibility and, at the same time, free the decision makers from prosecutions. It only snares those responsible for local security. Whereas the assumption of the occurrence of extraordinary crimes is closely related to the state's political policies. Moreover, the East Timor debacle was an international case, with policies regarding it impossible to be made without prior approval of Jakarta.
By shifting the category to "ordinary case" the Attorney General's Office is gambling with the UN's trust in Indonesia's ability to administer the process of law entrusted to it, which should be "international in character".
The UN has emphasized that a genuine settlement of the past human rights abuses of a nation should be made by that particular nation itself, for the sake of a just and long-lasting national reconciliation.
That is why holding a national trial is the best way to try those involved in human rights violations, as well as the first step to put an end to "the cycle of impunity" that has so far been enjoyed by the Indonesian Military.
In general, there is something worrying that is endangering the direction and objective of reform in the Attorney General's Office of this republic.
In past cases of both political and economic crimes, the strategy as well as measures taken for the settlement of the case -- the weakest and minimum -- was obvious.
The perspective and legal constructions produced and set forth in the court were weak, clearly giving ample opportunity for large-scale economic and political criminals to escape.
There is a very strong impression that criminals are being intentionally freed from punishment by means of legal processing.
The legal process of the recent cases, including the release of Djoko Tjandra, the Soeharto trial and the announcement of the 19 East Timor suspects have shown it.
HENDARDI
Chairman
Association of Indonesian
Legal Aid
Jakarta