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)