Komnas has preliminary evidence against Soeharto

Komnas has preliminary evidence against Soeharto

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) says it has
found preliminary evidence of human rights violations by former
president Soeharto during his 32-years of iron-fisted leadership,
but has yet to decide whether or not to recommend prosecution.

M.M. Billah, who leads a Komnas HAM team investigating
Soeharto's rights violations, said on Friday that the team was
focusing on five major cases, including the detention without
trial of alleged members of the Indonesian Communists Party (PKI)
on Buru island following an aborted coup d'etat attempt in 1965.

Four other cases were the mysterious murders of criminals
known as Petrus in the early 1980s, the Tanjung Priok massacre in
early 1984, the imposition of military operation region (DOM) in
Aceh from 1989 through 1998, and the July 27 attack on the
Indonesia Democratic Party (PDI-P) headquarters in 1996.

The five had been recognized as the worst rights-violations
cases by Soeharto's New Order, which had earned a reputation for
using military support to suppress its political opponents.

"The Komnas HAM plenary meeting concluded that there were
widespread and systematic attacks against a big number of
civilians," he told a group called the Beware of Soeharto
Committee (Tewas Soeharto).

Billah, however, admitted that there was no guarantee that
Komnas HAM would set up an ad hoc team to investigate Soeharto's
alleged rights violations.

"I think there will be a lot of hot debate over this issue.
Komnas HAM has many members, each has a different position," he
said.

Komnas HAM is expected to meet next week to discuss the issue.

Members of the state-sanctioned rights body have different
backgrounds. Some are rights activists, others are former police
officers, former military officers, lecturers and religious
figures.

Komnas HAM established the investigation team last year to
examine possible rights abuses by Soeharto, who ruled the world's
fourth most-populated country up until May 1998.

The team is led by Billah, another Komnas HAM member Achmad
Ali, and lawyer Nursyahbani Katjasungkana. Team members include
historian Asvi Warman Adam, lawyer Luhut M. Pangaribuan, as well
as rights activists Munir, Karlina Supelli, and Ita F. Nadia.

Billah said Komnas HAM may either decide to set up an ad hoc
team for the preparation of prosecution or an investigative team
to examine the case only.

"It depends on the results of the meeting next week. But,
whatever our recommendation is, it will be up to the government,
whether they take the case to court or not," he said.

Komnas HAM had earlier investigated possible rights abuses in
the 1998 shooting of students of Trisakti university and
submitted the results of its investigation to the Attorney
General's Office (AGO) for prosecution. The AGO, however, is yet
to instigate criminal proceedings.

Indonesia has managed to bring to court rights cases in East
Timor and the Tanjung Priok massacre. Both the House and the
government agreed to prosecute the East Timor rights abuses
following international pressure. The prosecution ended with only
five of 18 defendants convicted of the crimes. Most of those who
escaped convictions were military generals.

The 82-year old Soeharto successfully escaped prosecution for
alleged graft in 2000, despite calls to eradicate corruption.
His lawyers have managed to convince authorities not to try him
due to his "permanent brain damage".