Political trials 'have been used to curb dissent'

Political trials 'have been used to curb dissent'

JAKARTA (JP): Political trials have become a legal ploy
exploited by the government to curb dissent, rights activists
said here yesterday.

"Political trials are an irrefutable phenomenon of how the
government treats dissenting parties," the Indonesian Legal Aid
and Human Rights Association's (PBHI) executive director Hendardi
told journalists.

He said the trials were merely a formality and usually ended
with punishment against the so-called "dissidents".

"Trials are also aimed at frightening the public against
emulating such dissent," Hendardi said.

PBHI, in its 1997 human rights evaluation, said yesterday that
during the year a number of public figures were taken to court as
their political views were deemed to be an affront to the
government.

They include former legislator Sri Bintang Pamungkas, labor
activist Muchtar Pakpahan, alleged book distributor Rachmad
Buchori Nasution, ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic
Party Megawati Soekarnoputri and activists of the Democratic
People's Party's (PRD).

PBHI condemned these persecutions saying that political trials
resembled practices by authoritarian countries, and should not
occur in a democratic society where such practices are abandoned.

"To try a person's political view is against the right to
freedom of expression," Hendardi said, adding that in a
democratic state, citizens should not be tried for harboring
different political views.

Hendardi lamented the continued persistence of a number of
repressive laws such as the 1963 Antisubversion Law which the
government has kept alive under the pretext that political
dynamism may threaten national stability.

Violations

In its 28-page evaluation, PBHI claimed that human rights
violations were worse this year than 1996, particularly in terms
of civil and political rights.

Based on reports from PBHI's network in 32 cities throughout
the country, 412 civil and political rights violations were
recorded, compared to 1996 which only saw 291 recorded cases.

PBHI also specified three other categories of rights
violations -- workers' rights, land rights and consumer rights.

The PBHI report cited 1,982 violations of workers' rights, 361
cases of forced land appropriation, and 1,509 violations of
consumer rights.

PBHI claimed that more than 60 percent of civil and human
rights violations were committed by either police or military
officials.

Victims of these cases were predominately political and public
figures, accounting for 227 cases.

Other victims included 56 student cases, 50 journalist cases,
38 cases involving non-governmental organizations, political
parties 38 cases and religious groups 22 cases.

Ninety-three cases involved "individuals" not included in the
above.

PBHI reported that most of the workers' rights violations
involved wage and allowance matters, 1,157 out of the 1,982
workers' rights violations cases recorded.

PBHI further lamented the government's slow response in
investigating a number of cases which involved human rights
violations.

It said that up till the end of this year, there had been
little sign from the government to initiate thorough
investigations on several "unfinished cases" such as the July 27,
1996 riot, the murder of labor activist Marsinah and the murder
of Bernas journalist Fuad Muhammad Syafruddin.

"Human rights violations will be worse if the government lets
these cases slip away or stalls the investigation to protect
certain parties," Hendardi warned. (10)