I'm ready to take the blame: Prabowo

I'm ready to take the blame: Prabowo

JAKARTA (JP): Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto said yesterday he is
ready to take responsibility for the kidnappings of political
activists allegedly perpetrated by the Army's special force
(Kopassus) early this year.

Prabowo, who was the commandant-general of the Army's crack
force when the abductions occurred, broke his silence on the
issue three days after the Armed Forces (ABRI) disclosed that
Kopassus members were involved in the abductions.

"I refer to the statement by the ABRI commander who said that
the matter was now being handled by the ABRI headquarters,"
Prabowo told reporters in Bandung, West Java, Antara said.

"I'm ready to take responsibility. But we have to wait for
further developments. That is the only statement from me," he
said after attending the closing ceremony of a regular course at
the ABRI Staff and Command College which he now oversees.

Prabowo stressed, however, that all the tasks carried out by
him and his subordinates when he commanded Kopassus were
dedicated to the prosperity and safety of the nation.

He declined to comment on allegations that his men who were
accused of the kidnappings have wrongly interpreted his orders.
"That's what you say," he retorted to the persistent reporters.

Military Police chief Maj. Gen. Syamsu Djalal disclosed
Tuesday that five Kopassus members have been detained and two
others were under intensive investigation concerning allegations
about their role in the kidnappings.

Antara has reported that the seven were a general, two
colonels, a major, a captain, and two privates.

ABRI chief spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif has said that
there appeared to be a "procedural error" when Kopassus members
carried out orders from their superiors to look into the
activities of radical groups in Indonesia.

Syamsu said that the soldiers exceeded their orders by
kidnapping the activists.

The term "procedural error" in military tribunals in the past
effectively absolved senior military commanders of any guilt
committed by their soldiers.

Given the strong discipline that Kopassus is known for,
Syamsu's claim raised many eyebrows, even from the corps itself.

Unprofessional

"I think it would be rare for anyone to miscarry or
misinterpret his orders. In ABRI, any order must be carried out
to the letter," said Lt. Gen. Agum Gumelar, a former Kopassus
commandant who is now governor of the National Resilience
Institute.

"If that was what really happened, that was very
unprofessional of them," Agum told reporters in Jakarta.

Human rights organizations have demanded that the ABRI
investigation disclose who gave the orders, and what the specific
orders were, to shed more light on the kidnappings.

Most of the abductions occurred in the run-up to and during
the People's Consultative Assembly General Session in March.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence
(Kontras), an independent organization which has been looking
into the matter, said 12 activists of the 24 reported missing are
still not accounted for.

Those who have returned told of harrowing tortures known to be
used by the military to extract incriminating statements against
themselves or their colleagues.

Prabowo was virtually "forced" to speak to reporters who
attended the ceremony for the rare opportunity to get close to
the former commandant-general. The reporters pushed and shoved
their way past his bodyguards before they could fire their
questions at him, Antara said.

Prabowo, the son-in-law of former president Soeharto, was
promoted in March from Kopassus to head the Army's Strategic
Reserves Command (Kostrad).

But he was reassigned to his present post to head the ABRI
college in Bandung by ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto on May 22, a
day after Soeharto resigned from the presidency. (emb)