Military top brass to face summons over abductions
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After years of diminishing hope and frustration, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) said on Thursday it was set to question several military and police top brass over the abduction of pro-democracy activists ahead of former president Soeharto's fall in 1998.
A team set up by the commission has summoned active and retired members of the two forces, including Gen. (ret) Wiranto, Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto, and Ministry of Defense secretary-general Lt. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsuddin, to appear for questioning.
Team head Ruswiati Suryasaputra said that so far only Wiranto, scheduled to be questioned on June 10, has confirmed his attendance.
However, Prabowo and Sjafrie, who were summoned to show up on Friday, had yet to respond as of Thursday.
The three officers held key positions within the military during the 1997-1998 period, when dozens of pro-democracy activists were abducted ahead of Soeharto's fall that was preceded by mass riots in Jakarta in May 1998.
Wiranto served as Army chief and subsequently as Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) commander. Prabowo served as chief of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) before being promoted as chief of the Army's Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), while Sjafrie was a Kopassus member.
Formed in January, the team was compiling data, information and facts regarding the abductions, before determining whether or not gross human rights violations had occurred. The team's tenure expires on July 20.
Speaking at a hearing with the House of Representatives' Commission III on legal affairs, Ruswiati said the team has so far gathered information and testimony from victims of abduction as well as relatives and families of missing persons.
She said the three military officials, who are among the 12 military and police personnel on the questioning list, were summoned based on testimony given by victims who managed to either escape or who were released, and also documents from the trials of Mawar (Rose) team members.
Members of the Mawar team, part of the Kopassus' antiterror squad led by Col. Khairawan, were brought to a military court in 1999 after the kidnapping cases of activists were revealed.
The head of the Mawar team, Maj. Gen. Bambang Kristiono, and all the team members, claimed the kidnappings were undertaken at the team's own initiative. All team members received prison terms, while Bambang was dismissed from the Army.
She said her team has sent a letter to TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto asking him to permit active officials to be summoned, but said that as yet no response had been received.
"We may issue second summonses. If they still refuse to appear, then we'll issue a subpoena against them as we have the right to do this under Law No. 39/1999 on Human Rights," she said.
The House's Commission III chairman, Akil Mochtar, said he was demanding that Endriartono provide full access so that the team could properly investigate the kidnapping cases and to allow reconstructions based on the information gathered from all witnesses.