President Susilo should bring Soeharto to court

It has been seven years since Soeharto stepped down as president on May 21, 1998, after 32 years in office. The former president remains "untouchable" despite allegations of human rights abuses and corruption during his reign. The Jakarta Post's Tony Hotland interviewed political scientist Mochtar Pabottingi about Soeharto. The following is an excerpt of that interview:

Question: What do you think of the recent proposal by several public figures to grant former president Soeharto amnesty?

Answer: Even now we still have not seen the full damage and effect of the New Order regime. We still continue to feel and suffer from the damage, the torture and the ruin of dozens of years under the leadership of Soeharto.

I always say that it amounts to the betrayal of the ideals of the Republic, where the five principles of the state ideology were stomped on throughout the New Order.

Could you elaborate?

One principle is a fair and civilized society. Did such a thing really exist? With the massacre of thousands of our brothers in 1965, without any proper trials but only on accusations (that they were members of the Indonesian Communist Party), and at the urging of the United States. The New Order stood for so long with the support of the U.S.

Another principle, a united Indonesia. Really? One of the New Order's pillars was the military, controlled by Soeharto. The military always says it helped unite the people, but the facts show that over the past two decades it has been the military that has been breaking the nation apart.

Wasn't the military positioned to oversee development projects? And by development projects, they meant projects belonging to Soeharto and his cronies, pushed forward without consulting the People's Consultative Assembly, let alone the public. The military shot and killed people who tried to fight for themselves, kidnapped them, made them disappear ... in the process becoming the root of the disintegration of the nation.

Need one more example? Social justice. History shows that the economic disparity between the haves and the have-nots grew wider and wider under the New Order.

All five principles were betrayed by Soeharto's New Order. Now we want to forgive him? Is that a good lesson for the Republic? We are not only talking about Soeharto as a person, but also the Republic ... about us and what he did to the Republic. I cannot figure out what those people were thinking of (suggesting an amnesty for Soeharto), and I am really upset. Are we trying to avoid the truth?

What should the current government do regarding Soeharto and the legal process surrounding him?

The best thing is to put him back to trial. I think it is a complete lie that he cannot stand trial. It is a lie that the doctors who examined him found he was unable to stand trial. How many times has Soeharto traveled to Nusa Kambangan to see his favorite son, who is a criminal? How many times have we seen him walking around? Bring him to court, let him talk ... force him to talk.

I do not understand why these public figures are saying we should forget everything. We are talking about what Soeharto did to the Republic. Did they consider that? It never occurred to them because they are Soeharto's men. They do not think about the nation.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono refused to comment when asked about the possibility of trying Soeharto.

I would suggest to him, with such little chance for a trial, that the wisest and most realistic thing he could say is that it is imperative to put Soeharto to trial and find the truth. But maybe not during the current administration. We may have to wait a while, the consequence being that Soeharto could pass away first. But really, that is the least Susilo could say, as a statesman. But of course, he needs to mean it.

The Attorney General's Office seems to be powerless to take action because Soeharto's doctors say the former president is too ill to stand trial.

I tell you, what we have today is far from anything that could be called a reform era, because today is just an extension of the New Order. And the institution where you can feel the spirit of the New Order the strongest is the judiciary. It has never been an institution for justice, but rather is an institution for sustaining injustice.

All of the authorities, the branches of the government, simply do not want to try Soeharto, and that is a big mistake. This is not something that we can just forget. This is the very foundation of our nation that Soeharto trampled on, violated and betrayed.

So you see absolutely no room for amnesty?

You know, even if he should be granted amnesty, he should first pay compensation to all of the victims of his New Order regime. Select the victims, pay them and their offspring adequate compensation, give them a good education, clear their names and give them back their bruised dignity. The victims of the Tanjung Priok incident, the Lampung incident ... the victims in Aceh, Papua, you name it. Countless.

In fact, he could have saved the country in 1998 by staying in power. If he had wanted to save the country, he could have gathered together all his corrupt cronies and bailed out Indonesia from its mounting debts. He and his cronies were capable of doing that, but it just never occurred to Soeharto's mind because he was so selfish and ungiving.

If there is an amnesty, it is (first president) Sukarno's name that should be rehabilitated. His accomplishments were greater than those of Soeharto. He founded the state ideology, he is the father of our nation, whose name was tarnished by the New Order through fabricated history.

I must say that the prospects of Soeharto being put on trial are small. So I suppose we can all forget about giving him amnesty. They can grant him amnesty after doing everything I just said.

You have given all the basic reasons for denying Soeharto an amnesty. Do you have any more political reasons?

In a very concrete sense, the impunity that continues to ravage our nation comes with the fact that we are still feeling the extended arms of the New Order. Over the years, this has become the pattern by which all cases of gross corruption and human rights violations are conducted in this wretched and perpetually betrayed nation, whose symbols and banners continue to be shamelessly used and exploited.

The well-kept and guarded policy of impunity in the post- Soeharto era is the very knot at which all cases of gross corruption and human rights violations have been firmly stuck.