Lawyers doubt rights prosecutors' capability

Lawyers doubt rights prosecutors' capability

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Human rights lawyers have raised concerns that the 24 prosecutors
appointed to the ad hoc human rights tribunal lack the necessary
knowledge and experience to pursue the cases of human rights
abuses that took place in East Timor in 1999 and during the
Tanjung Priok incident in 1984.

"I doubt whether these prosecutors have the ability, the
understanding and the integrity to be human rights' prosecutors
-- there are likely to be controversial outcomes in these cases,"
noted lawyer Frans Hendra Wiranata told The Jakarta Post on
Friday.

"If there was an open selection process, I am quite sure most
of these prosecutors would not be eligible for the job, because
it is well-known that the Indonesian judicial system is corrupt,
and 70 percent to 80 percent of the judges are also corrupt," he
added.

Another lawyer, Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantera, said the use of
Law No.26/2000, which stipulates that the Attorney-General may
appoint prosecutors without taking public opinion into
consideration, had bred skepticism.

"At present, and understandably, there is distrust among the
public, the community -- even among government institutions and
non-governmental organizations," Abdul Hakim said.

"I think that more consultation would have created public
confidence -- the Attorney-General could have made the
background, experience and achievements of those appointed as ad
hoc prosecutors known to the public."

Attorney General M.A. Rachman swore in the 24 prosecutors to
press charges against suspects of alleged human rights violations
that occurred during the 1999 East Timor mayhem and the 1984
Tandjung Priok bloodshed.

Their induction, however, does not necessarily mean that the
most-awaited rights trial will take off in February as planned as
the team has yet to read the dossiers and formulate indictments
against the 19 suspects involved in the 1999 East Timor killings.

Attorney General's Office spokesman Barman Zahir said the
prosecutors would first make out indictments in five cases, but
refused to mention the suspects' names.

The prosecutors, comprising 15 active state prosecutors, seven
retired prosecutors and two active military prosecutors, were
chosen in a selection process widely condemned as lacking
transparency.

"I suspect the closed-door approach in selecting ad hoc
prosecutors has something to do with hiding something -- why is
the public not informed of their backgrounds?" asked Frans, who
is also a member of the National Law Commission.

Activists belonging to the Ad Hoc Tribunal Watch Coalition
particularly drew attention to two prosecutors: Maju Ambarita and
Widodo Supriyadi.

Maju Ambarita demanded eight-years imprisonment each for
dozens of Papuan students in 2001 simply because they held
rallies in front of the Australian and United States Embassies in
Jakarta on Dec. 1, 2000.

Widodo, on the other hand, served as the chief prosecutor in
the trial of Budiman Sudjatmiko, the chairman of the leftist
Democratic People's Party (PRD), for calling for a referendum on
East Timor in 1996. He was also prosecuted dozens of Indonesian
Democratic Party activists loyal to Megawati Soekarnoputri in
1997.

Article 23 of Law No. 26/2000 states that the process of
prosecuting gross violations of human rights is the
responsibility of the Attorney General, who can install
government officials or members of the public as prosecutors for
ad hoc trials.

Section four of this article requires the appointees to be
between 40 and 65 years of age, to have studied law and to have
experience as a public prosecutor, as well as some knowledge of
and concern for human rights issues.

Frans said he did not expect the decisions of the tribunal to
match the severity of the crimes, citing a lack of
conscientiousness among prosecutors and judges alike.

"How many law enforcement agencies actually know about human
rights, or even care? Look at the police when they are subpoenaed
for human rights cases -- they don't even show up," Frans said,
referring to a case last week in which only one of four summoned
officers attended a scheduled hearing into the violent Trisakti
and Semanggi incidents of 1998 and 1999, when dozens were killed
in clashes between student protesters and the police.

The appointment to the tribunal of two army prosecutors, Col.
Djojo Djohari and Lt. Col. Muchtar, is seen as a further
indication that the suspects will receive light sentences if
convicted. The suspects include three army generals, a police
general and several middle-ranking officers.

The prosecutors' appointment follows the controversial
swearing-in of eleven ad hoc trial judges last Friday, including
non-career judge Rudi Muhammad Rizki, a lecturer who is alleged
to have advised the legal team of former military commander Gen.
Wiranto in connection with an earlier East Timor case.