Milosevic's handover a precedent for RI
By Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak
JAKARTA (JP): Observers warned that the extradition of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic could set a precedent for the prosecution of Indonesians accused of human rights abuses, if the government here fails to bring legal proceedings against them.
Noted human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis pointed out Friday that while Jakarta had not ratified the statute of the International Criminal Court, the international community could still endeavor to bring the perpetrators of rights abuses before it.
The government, therefore, said Todung, should accelerate the establishment of its own tribunal.
"We don't recognize the international court's jurisdiction nor universal principles which allow the extradition of our nationals who allegedly abuse human rights. But it doesn't mean we're beyond foreign intervention in these cases," Todung, who is executive director of the Center for Human Rights Studies (Yapusham), told The Jakarta Post.
"It depends on our own rights tribunal. If it is considered that it has failed to try rights cases, it's not beyond the bounds of possibility that there would be pressure from the world community to convene an international court to try these cases," he added.
Indonesia has been in the spotlight in this regard, particularly concerning alleged rights abuses in relation to the events which transpired in East Timor in 1999.
The government has pledged to establish a tribunal to try these cases. The Attorney General's Office has prepared indictments against 18 suspects allegedly involved in human rights crimes.
Although the law on the human rights tribunal was passed late last year, the government has yet to establish one.
The issue of the tribunal has attracted new attention following the news that Milosevic was handed over by his government on Thursday to face a war crimes tribunal in The Hague.
He is charged with perpetrating crimes against humanity and is accused of being responsible for mass killings and the expulsions of ethnic groups during his term as president before being toppled last October.
Secretary-general of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham) Asmara Nababan said, however, that while the possibility of an international tribunal for Indonesians allegedly responsible for rights crimes existed, it was still very distant.
"Our tribunal should go ahead first, then we'll talk about such a possibility," he told the Post.
But political observer Dewi Fortuna Anwar was doubtful that Indonesia could withstand the momentum of an international tribunal if one were to be convened.
Dewi noted that Indonesia remained vulnerable to foreign pressure due to its economic dependence on the international community for aid.
She argued that the principle of national sovereignty by itself was no longer a powerful argument to deter such an international court.
"For countries which have lots of bargaining chips, they would not be easily bluffed," she told the Post by telephone.
Dewi pointed as an example to a U.S. bill which forbids military exchanges and the supply of weapons to the Indonesia Army if rights perpetrators were not brought to justice.
"Because Indonesia is still in the transition to democracy and is considered strategic, the government may still get support from developed countries, but not for the military.
"Therefore, Indonesia has to prove its commitment because it could eventually hamper military professionalism which later could also affect the democratization process," she said.
"Even if we have good relations with the Bush administration, it's difficult for them to revoke the bill, especially with the weak position of the governing party as it is not the majority in the legislature," she argued.
Warning of how serious the matter was, Dewi urged the government to realize the dangerous impact of ignoring such cases for the nation as a whole, and not to only protect a few from legal proceedings.
"Anyway, it's far better for us to punish the perpetrators than the international court," she said.