Reopening of Priok case sought
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Following a political move by lawmakers to push for the reopening of the investigations into shooting incidents in 1998 and 1999, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has urged a new probe into another gross human rights violation, that shootings in Tanjung Priok in 1984.
Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid suggested that new suspects be named and prosecuted in accordance with the recommendations issued by the National Commission on Human Rights.
"Hoping that those people who were acquitted of all charges will be put on trial again is impossible. In our opinion, the only alternative is to seek new suspects," Usman said.
These suspects, he said, should be those who were ultimately responsible for the shootings, even though they might not be the ones who pulled the triggers.
"I think the military commander who was in charge at that time should be held responsible for the shooting incident in Tanjung Priok," Usman said.
The Jakarta military commander when the incident occurred in June 1984 was Maj. Gen. Try Sutrisno, who was elected vice president in 1993 by the People's Consultative Assembly.
During the incident, troops opened fire on hundreds of protesters during a clash at Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta, which according to official figures killed 32 people.
The Attorney General's Office named 14 soldiers and officers suspects in the case, including Special Forces (Kopassus) chief Maj. Gen. Sriyanto Muntrasan, who was the North Jakarta military commander at the time. Try, who made peace with families of the victims, was not on the list.
All the suspects were acquitted by the ad hoc human rights court, which ruled that the shootings "were unavoidable and were not a planned or systematic action", and thus could not be categorized as gross human rights abuses.
Kontras, Usman said, had urged the Attorney General's Office to appeal the court's verdicts and asked both the President and the House of Representatives to rehabilitate the reputation of the victims and provide compensation for their families.
Usman said the charges laid against security officers responsible for the Priok abuses and other gross human rights violations had always been based on the Criminal Code on the commission, abetting or initiation of a crime, but they had never been charged with failing to prevent the incidents.
"The country has admitted that the gross human rights violations took place, but has never sought to call anyone to account for the crimes." Usman said.
He said the military top brass who were in command when the incident occurred should be charged under the principle of command responsibility as provided for in the Human Rights Tribunal Law (No. 26/1999).