RI Human rights record as shabby as ever in 2002

RI Human rights record as shabby as ever in 2002

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

No improvement was made this year with the country's poor human
rights record, which was marked by almost no progress of legal
action against suspected perpetrators of crimes against humanity
and, most lamentably, several acquittals, rights activists said.

Reviewing human rights protection in 2002 in Indonesia
recently, deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human
Rights (Komnas HAM) Solahudin Wahid lamented the lack of courage
shown by the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to declare the
shooting deaths of 21 people, mostly students, during anti-
government rallies in 1998 and 1999 at Trisakti and Semanggi, as
gross human rights violations as recommended by the commission.

"The AGO decision was triggered by the House of
Representatives' conclusion that no human rights violations were
committed in the Trisakti and Semanggi incidents," Solahudin
said.

The Trisakti shooting, which left four students dead, was
followed by a wave of chaos and massive demonstrations that
preceded the fall of long-time ruler Soeharto in May 1998.

Komnas HAM has filed its investigative reports on the Trisakti
and Semanggi incidents to the AGO, which is expected to examine
the cases and take legal actions against the perpetrators.

Solahudin said the AGO also lacked the courage to name
prominent military officers as suspects in the Tanjung Priok
massacre in 1984. The current Special Forces (Kopassus) commander
Maj. Gen. Sriyanto heads the list of 14 suspects named by state
prosecutors in connection with the bloodshed. At the time of the
incident, Sriyanto, then a captain, was leading an operation to
restore order following a mass rally.

The AGO let former Armed Forces chief Gen. (ret) L.B. Moerdani
and former Jakarta Military commander Gen (ret.) Try Sutrisno off
the hook despite their key roles in the incident.

"What can we do about that, Komnas HAM has no authority to
object to the decision," Solahudin said.

The Tanjung Priok case would be the second in the country
brought to a human rights court after the East Timor mayhem in
1999. Those trials are ongoing.

Solahudin also said that the current efforts to uphold human
rights was overshadowed by antiterrorism jitters. He said the
government regulation in lieu of a law on antiterrorism was prone
to human rights violations, thus it must be rejected.

Human rights activist Albert Hasibuan concurred with
Solahudin, stressing that the human rights protection in the
country this year took a step backward by the many odd verdicts
in the ad hoc tribunal for the East Timor atrocities.

The ad hoc court acquitted a number of military and police
officers who were believed to be held responsible for the crimes
against humanity. The court convicted two East Timorese
civilians, a former militia commander and a former civil servant.

"The acquittals reflect the real policy of the court and the
government and express unjust human rights enforcement," Albert
said.

Therefore, he said, it was not surprising that calls to try
perpetrators for human rights abuses in Aceh, Papua and other
areas had also received weak responses from the government.

"The government is trying to protect the military in order to
maintain the unity of the nation, which has been under threat
since the fall of Soeharto in 1998.

The government considers the role of the military to be a
higher priority than human rights," Albert, a former Komnas HAM
member, said.

Albert added that the government's approach was based on fears
that trials against military officers would discredit the
Indonesian Military (TNI) as an institution.

"It's a wrong perception as the abusers are individuals and
not institution, but the government still sees it that way,"
Albert said.

Solahudin said the commission received over 2,000 reports of
human rights abuses in 2002, but only a few of them could be
categorized as grave human rights violations.

He said human rights abuses occurred in various regions,
mainly in conflict-ridden areas like Aceh, Poso in Central
Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.

However, only the ambush on two vehicles carrying employees of
PT Freeport Indonesia in Papua that killed three people and
injured 12 others was considered a grave human rights violation.

"We may have a lower number of gross human rights abuses this
year, but law enforcement against the perpetrators of the
existing serious human rights violations is very disappointing,"
Solahudin said.

Both Solahudin and Albert said attempts to improve the
country's human rights record relied heavily on the government's
commitment and will to conduct thorough investigations into past
rights abuses and then hold fair trials.

"The government, as well as the court, must restore their poor
record in human rights protection. They should not conspire with
the military by acquitting them," Albert said.

Solahudin said that the investigation over human rights
violations in Aceh, the mass rapes and murders in Jakarta in May
1998 and other cases under former president Soeharto must see
justice done.

"Peace is not the absence of conflict but the presence of
justice," he said.