Marzuki backs trials in Aceh rights abuses

JAKARTA (JP): Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Friday that he hoped to prosecute military members responsible for human rights abuses in Aceh and have them tried in civil, rather then military courts, to appease the people in the restive province.

"I will propose to the President to draft a government regulation in lieu of law which will provide the Attorney General's Office the power to prosecute military members," Marzuki told The Jakarta Post by phone.

His comments came as pressure mounted on the government to bring to trial military officers responsible for the massive human rights abuses in Aceh.

A government-funded commission looking into atrocities committed in Aceh said this week it had uncovered evidence of senior military officers, some of whom are still serving, giving commands that had led to human rights abuses.

The inquiry looked into five major cases, including the fatal shootings of more than 40 protesters in Krueng Geukueh in North Aceh in May and the massacre of Tengku Bantaqiah and his students at an Islamic boarding school in West Aceh in July.

Commission members said the report, originally due to be presented to President Abdurrahman Wahid on Wednesday, contained enough evidence to bring military officers to court.

"These five cases would have to be given priority. But the most important thing is to be sure about the jurisdiction of the civil court in trying these cases," Marzuki said.

"We will be working as fast as possible, and it depends on how fast the House of Representatives can enact the necessary legislation," he said.

Past human rights abuses committed by the military -- whether in Aceh, East Timor or elsewhere in the country -- have been tried in military courts. Virtually all of the perpetrators escaped lightly, with a standard conviction for procedural errors.

A new human rights law enacted in September allows for human rights abuses to be tried in a civil court.

The ruling however applies for future, and not past cases, prompting human rights campaigners to appeal to the government to make a special ruling in trying the cases of atrocities in Aceh.

They also said court martials had been "the biggest obstacle" to a thorough investigation into human rights abuses.

Marzuki, a staunch human right campaigner before his appointment as Attorney General last month, said the government must try the Aceh cases in a civil court to have any significant political impact on the Acehnese people.

The military has been accused of serious human rights abuses during a decade of operations to quell a separatist movement in Aceh.

Although the operations ended last year, Aceh continues to be racked by violence -- more than 250 people have been killed since May.

On Monday, more than one million people marched in Banda Aceh, the province's capital, to send the clearest message yet to Jakarta of their demand for a self-determination referendum.

Marzuki said swift prosecutions against officers responsible for human rights abuses would be "part of the answer" to the Aceh problem.

"Prosecution is a very important element in restoring confidence in the central government," he said.

President Abdurrahman, who is in the United States, has ordered State Minister for Human Rights Affairs Hasballah M. Saad to lead a Cabinet delegation to visit Aceh in preparation for his dialog with Aceh leaders expected later this month.

The delegation is due in Banda Aceh on Saturday morning.

Officials in Jakarta have treaded carefully in responding to the referendum demand, saying that if it was allowed to take place, it could mark the start of the break up of the republic.

Even Amien Rais, chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), who visited Banda Aceh on Friday, clarified his earlier statement supporting a referendum, saying that such a step should be a last resort if other efforts failed.

In Jakarta, military spokesman Maj. Gen. Sudrajat said on Friday that the demand for a referendum in Aceh was "unrealistic and irrelevant".

Antara reported that some 600 members of the 328th Infantry Battalion of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) left Aceh on Friday as part of the military's plan to reduce its presence in Aceh. The 131th battalion would also be withdrawn soon.

The military would retain the 112th and 113th battalions, the Missile 001 Detachment, one company of Marines, and members of the Teuku Umar and Liliwangsa district commands. (byg/02)