Govt submits law on human rights court
Govt submits law on human rights court
JAKARTA (JP): In an unusual move, the government asked the
House of Representatives to reject a draft law it submitted on
Friday endorsing the government regulation in lieu of a law on
the establishment of a human rights court.
Speaking during a House plenary session presided over by House
Speaker Akbar Tandjung, Minister of Law and Legislation Yusril
Ihza Mahendra said the House was being asked to reject the draft
because the government regulation contained numerous weaknesses
and loopholes.
"The present government is submitting the draft just to
maintain the orderliness of governmental practices," Yusril said.
The government regulation was drafted during the
administration of president B.J. Habibie, which ended in October,
but never submitted to the House for approval.
"If the House rejects the draft law, the present government
will be ready to submit a new one which is easier to enact,"
Yusril said.
The minister said the draft law's main flaw was its
stipulation that human rights cases be tried by district courts.
It is feared that this would lead to military intervention in the
judicial process.
"District courts will lack the judges to handle human rights
cases and this bill allows them to recruit judges from the
military tribunal," he said.
The draft law sponsored by the Habibie government was proposed
as a supporting regulation to the 1999 Law on Human Rights and
the National Commission on Human Rights.
It dealt with the authority of human rights courts to
investigate and try genocide, arbitrary killings, abductions and
systemic discrimination.
The bill gave the National Commission on Human Rights the
authority to investigate atrocities, abductions, arbitrary
killings and systemic discrimination.
It also stipulated that human rights cases be handled by
district courts and trials be held in regencies and mayoralties.
Higher courts
Yusril said human rights cases should be handled by higher
courts, which did not have such heavy caseloads and were
relatively independent compared to district courts.
He added that higher courts could be closely supervised by the
Supreme Court.
"To me, the bill must be revised and I will do it if the House
wants the government to do so," he said.
He said the House should regulate that human rights cases be
tried by provincial courts in coordination with the Supreme
Court. Provincial courts should be allowed to hire ad hoc
justices, who could be noted legal experts and human rights
activists, to ensure the fairness of the trials, he added.
"Legal experts and human rights activists such as Adnan Buyung
Nasution and Munir, whose ability to handle human rights
violations is beyond doubt, can be recruited as ad hoc justices."
Asked about trials for human rights violations in Aceh, Yusril
said they would be handled by the Supreme Court and a team of
justices to hear the cases would be formed in a week. (rms)