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.