Military ready to probe atrocities in Aceh

Military ready to probe atrocities in Aceh

JAKARTA (JP): The Minister of Defense Juwono Soedarsono said
on Saturday the Indonesian Military (TNI) was prepared to
investigate into past atrocities in Aceh.

But he denied that the plan was aimed at staving off
snowballing demands for a self-determination referendum in the
restive province.

He said the investigation would be in line with the
government's commitment to law enforcement, which was initiated
by former president B.J. Habibie and followed up by his successor
Abdurrahman Wahid.

"We have to regain the Acehnese people's trust by taking
actions against those who were involved and are found guilty of
abusing human rights in Aceh," Juwono told Antara after attending
a graduation ceremony at the National Development University
(UPN) in Yogyakarta.

Juwono did not elaborate which court he considered appropriate
to try those who are suspected of crimes.

Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Friday he would ask
Abdurrahman to authorize him to prosecute military members
accountable for human rights abuses in Aceh and have them tried
in a civil court, rather than a military tribunal.

TNI has been accused of crimes against humanity during
military operations to quell a separatist rebel movement in Aceh
between 1988 and 1998. The referendum demands have mounted
despite the government's endorsement of laws which offer Aceh a
special status within the republic and a fairer share of the
revenue from its natural resources.

Juwono said, however, that there should be enough evidence to
bring certain people to court on charges of human rights abuses
in Aceh.

Separately, Benyamin Mangkudilaga, a member of the National
Commission on Human Rights, told a seminar in Jakarta that those
accused of atrocities in Aceh should face a human rights
tribunal, something which was originally proposed by the
government to try military personnel responsible for violence in
East Timor after the Aug. 30 self-determination ballot there.

The government regulation in lieu of law No. 1, 1999, on a
human rights tribunal was issued in October against the backdrop
of the government's rejection of an international human rights
inquiry into alleged human rights abuses in East Timor.

Benyamin, also a former judge, admitted that the regulation in
lieu of law was far from perfect, but said people could not wait
for a settlement of human rights abuse cases in Aceh any longer.

"Based on past experience, I'm skeptical that the military
will be impartial when trying their members in a military court,"
Benyamin said. "In many previous cases, the guilty personnel were
always punished for procedural errors, not human rights
violations."

He said civil courts could not try human rights cases due to
their complicated nature.

Benyamin suggested that the human rights tribunal name judges
from civil courts and some ad hoc judges, selected from those
expert in human rights.

Another speaker at the seminar, Johnson Panjaitan, proposed an
international court for human rights abusers in Aceh, saying he
could not trust domestic courts in dealing with crimes against
humanity.

"An international court is relevant because human rights have
become a universal issue. Besides, Indonesia is a member of the
United Nations and the international community," Johnson said.

Pressure has mounted on the government to try military
officers responsible for human rights abuses in Aceh, following
the findings of an independent investigation commission on
atrocities in the troubled province.

The findings underline five major cases, including the fatal
shooting of more than 40 protesters in Krueng Geukueh subdistrict
in May and the massacre of Tengku Bantaqiah and his students at
an Islamic boarding school in Meulaboh in July.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Institute for Children's Advocacy
urged the government to immediately try the military personnel or
the civilians responsible for human rights abuses in Aceh.

In a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Saturday,
the institution demanded President Abdurrahman Wahid not to delay
his plan to meet with the Acehnese and to take concrete measures
to stop violence in the province.

The Indonesian Nationalist Party also issued a statement which
urged the government to probe into past human rights abuses in
Aceh and give the province full-scale autonomy status. (04)