Parents demand Wiranto comply with summons

Parents demand Wiranto comply with summons

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post,
Jakarta/Medan

The parents of dozens of students killed in several incidents
that took place in 1998 and 1999 gathered at the residence of
former Armed Forces chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto on Monday to mount
pressure on him to comply with a summons for an inquiry scheduled
later in the day.

They assembled at Wiranto's house at Jl. Simprug Golf V J/1,
in the residential area of Permata Hijau, South Jakarta, to ask
the retired general to act as a role model for his juniors, who
have also been summoned for questioning by the Commission of
Inquiry into Human Rights Violations (KPP HAM) on the tragedies
occurring at Trisakti University in May 1998, and near the
Semanggi cloverleaf in November 1998 and September 1999.

Wiranto was scheduled to face questioning on Monday, after KPP
HAM sent him the second summons.

Wiranto and his family reportedly live in Permata Hijau most
of the time beside owning two other homes in the city.

"We hope you can come to help unravel the case ... your
appearance would set aside opinion that the military and the
police officers are escaping responsibility," one of the parents,
Arief Priyadi, read from a letter to be presented to Wiranto.

But Wiranto was not home, according to one of his adjutants,
Suherlan, who met the visitors at the resident's front gate. "Pak
Wiranto has been out of town since Friday evening," he said.

Former National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi was also
scheduled to be questioned on Monday. Like Wiranto, Roesmanhadi
failed to show.

KPP HAM chairman Albert Hasibuan said that the inquiry would
give a harmful evaluation of the officers' absence in its
recommendation to investigators.

"We can conclude that their absence means that they refuse to
comply with the summonses and are not willing to clarify their
involvement in the incidents," said Hasibuan, who is also a
member of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM),
which established KPP HAM.

Both the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the National Police
have written to KPP HAM that they will not let their officers be
questioned in connection with the cases since the House of
Representatives had conducted a similar investigation and
recommended that they fall under the civil or military judiciary
instead of the human rights court.

Separately in Medan, North Sumatra, Army chief of staff Gen.
Endriartono Sutarto reaffirmed that the officers' refusal to
appear at the inquiry was not resistance but instead a part of
the institution's efforts to uphold the law.

He was in town to install the new Bukit Barisan Military
commander, Maj. Gen. Idris Gasing.

"The cases took place in the past, therefore the investigation
should first secure the House's approval. And the House has
stated that there were no gross violations of rights during the
incidents," Endriartono said.