Int'l court for Trisakti case possible but not soon

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Human rights activists have set an early deadline for the government to open an ad hoc court to try military and police officers for alleged gross human rights violations in May 1998.

If the government fails to heed the motion, activists have threatened to file the cases with the international tribunal in The Hague, Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) coordinator Ori Rachman said.

Ori said an international tribunal was the last resort if there was no response to public skepticism of the legal system, or if the court only serves as impunity to prominent figures and officials allegedly involved in crimes against humanity.

Although the chance is there for the international tribunal to take over the cases, a long and winding road will stand between the human rights activists and the desperately sought trials.

"Individuals or groups of people are entrusted with the capacity to file human rights cases with an international tribunal.

"But such an international tribunal can only occur if the cases draw the attention of the international community. And it will take time to convince the rest of the world to solicit their support," he told The Jakarta Post in an interview.

Four students were killed on Trisakti University campus in May 1998 when police troops moved to quell widespread demonstrations against then president Soeharto. Looting and rioting, which followed the shooting, left hundreds dead with many Chinese Indonesians fleeing the country for safety.

Ori said there were three mechanisms the international community could attempt to pull alleged human rights perpetrators out of their countries.

The first mechanism is through the annual meeting of the UN High Commission for Human Rights, where individuals or groups may ask for a follow-up to a particular case that was considered unheeded.

Special rapporteurs will be sent to monitor the case and to give recommendations to the High Commission whether to support the motion or not.

Lobbying is essential to win support from the UN Security Council, which has the authority to establish a tribunal.

The next mechanism is the permanent International Criminal Court, where the international community could take over investigation into the case.

The last option is direct intervention without prior notice to the country, should there be reports on gross violations to people's basic rights, such as genocide or mass killing.

Dozens of protesting students and civilians were shot dead by the security forces in three different rallies in 1998 and 1999.

Many believe the incidents have become the momentum for the reform movement, but the current administration is considered to have neglected public demand for the cases to be unraveled.

The cases, known as the Trisakti, Semanggi I and II cases, had been brought to a military tribunal, which proved unpopular. The human rights commission repeated the investigation and the case is now in the hands of the Attorney General's Office.

The Office's spokesman, Barman Zahir, said the human rights prosecutors are still studying the case and have yet to start the investigation, despite the fact they have been examining the case for more than three weeks.