Legislators besiege former top generals

JAKARTA (JP): Three Army generals who ran Indonesia's powerful military for much of the last 15 years came under siege as the House of Representatives (DPR) demanded their accountability for the massive atrocities that occurred in Aceh.

The three men were Try Sutrisno, Armed Forces (ABRI) chief between 1988 and 1993 and vice president from 1993 and 1998; Feisal Tanjung, ABRI chief in 1993-1998 and coordinating minister for political affairs and security in 1998-1999; and L.B. Moerdani, ABRI chief in 1983-1988 and defense minister in 1988- 1993.

The hearing was the latest in a series conducted by the House, which appears desperate to show to the troubled people of Aceh that those responsible for the human right abuses will be taken to task.

Also summoned were Ibrahim Hasan, the civilian Aceh governor who requested the implementation of a military operation in 1989 to quell an armed rebellion; former home minister Lt. Gen. (ret.) Syarwan Hamid, who led the military command in Aceh in 1989; Maj. Gen. (ret.) Pramono, who was chief of the Bukit Barisan Command; and Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim, an intelligence officer, and the only man still in uniform at Monday's hearing.

On Thursday, the House grilled Gen. Wiranto, the military chief between March 1998 until last October and now coordinating minister for political affairs and security.

After Try and Ibrahim made their statements on behalf of the group in which they defended the policy of military deployment, members of the House's special committee on Aceh deplored the absence of any remorse in their explanations, even as the facts clearly showed that their policy had gone wrong.

During their heydays in power, their statements would have been enough and no further questions would have been asked. There was none of that on Monday as legislators tore their statements to pieces.

To the committee members, the hearing was as much an opportunity to attack the former powerful generals as a chance to demand explanations. Others tried to expand their portfolio by asking Moerdani about bloody military operations elsewhere in the country during his term as military chief.

"Don't you feel the least bit morally responsible for what happened in Aceh?" asked Julius Usman, a representative of the PDI Perjuangan faction.

Julius accused Ibrahim of "selling" Aceh.

"When you said you requested the military operation to secure vital economic projects, did you not mean the projects belonging to the cronies of Soeharto?" he said.

Try in his explanation appeared to be completely out of touch with the changing times when he engaged the House with dated rhetoric about national security and foreign intervention.

He was interrupted by a committee member who pointedly told him: "Don't lecture us. Just answer the questions."

Forced to address the question directly, Try denied accusations the military was involved in various atrocities.

"There was no such thing. We only executed our task to ensure the safety and security of the state," he said.

"The government at the time was carrying out its state duty as mandated. Everything we did was based on that".

Qualifying his statement, Try asked for understanding: "If you judge the past with current values then it won't match".

Both Syarwan and Zacky then went into a lengthy explanation on how difficult operations were in Aceh.

"Operations there was most difficult as we could not tell between rebels and regular civilians," Zacky told legislators, who appeared aloof after being given rhetorical answers during the four-hour, evening hearing.

Ibrahim Hasan after a lengthy explanation, seemed to lightly brush aside the criticism of him: "You criticize from the point of view of a new regime toward the old regime".

L.B. Moerdani quietly sat and listened. It was only after legislators called for him to speak that he said a few words.

He claimed he was not involved in Acehnese affairs because as minister of defense most matters on the military operations in Aceh which started in 1989 were handled by the Armed Forces chief.

"I think the committee made a mistake in inviting me, that's why I can't say much. Next time if you have questions just summon the (former) Armed Forces chief," he said, pointing to Try who was sitting beside him.

The hearing ended without any clear conclusion on how to resolve the Aceh issue or what to do about alleged atrocities of the past. (emb/04/byg/emf/mds)