'Rank and file' blame in Liquisa
'Rank and file' blame in Liquisa
BANDUNG (JP): Army Chief of Staff Gen. R. Hartono reported that an army investigation has determined that their "rank and file" followed the wrong procedures in the military's Jan. 12 operation in Liquisa, East Timor, that left six villagers dead.
But he stressed yesterday that the Army's Officers Honor Council now probing the incident is not holding local senior military leaders above reproach.
"It is okay to presume that some senior army leaders were responsible because they controlled (the operation)," Hartono told journalists after swearing Maj. Gen. Tayo Tarmadi in as the new Siliwangi Military Command overseeing security in West Java.
In a military operation, he said, the abuse of procedure could result in disaster and those responsible for the mistake must take responsibility and be punished.
He declined to mention what punishment the guilty soldiers face.
"Let's see what the council comes up with when they turn in their report by the deadline early next month," he said.
Seven representatives from the 36-member council recently visited East Timor to follow up on the earlier findings of ABRI and the National Commission on Human Rights.
Council chief Maj. Gen. Muzani Syukur, whom Maj. Gen. Tarmadi replaced, said that his investigators had visited Liquisa and that the probe was nearly complete.
"We have reported on all the facts that we found in the field and our work is almost finished," said Muzani, who was promoted to Army Inspector General.
Born in the West Java regency of Karawang on Feb.17, 1943, Tayo Tarmadi was formerly chief of staff of the Wirabuana military district, which oversees security in Sulawesi.
A 1966 graduate from the National Military Academy, Tarmadi began his military career at the Siliwangi command. He took part in the suppression of communist rebellion in 1965 and military operations in East Timor in the late 1970s.
In 1973, he was a member of Indonesia's peace-keeping force in Vietnam.
Yesterday, Hartono also swore in Maj. Gen. H.A. Rivai as the new commandant of the Infantry Arsenal Center, replacing Maj. Gen. Arifin Tarigan.
Rivai was previously in the infantry division of the Army Strategic Reserve Command. Arifin will become the new commandant of the Army Staff and Command College and will be sworn in here today.(pan/pet)