Rights body calls for policy review
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights urged the government yesterday to find a fundamental solution to bring closure to numerous unresolved rights cases which cannot be tackled on a case-by-case basis.
In a statement on various human rights cases and mass lootings, the rights body said a principle solution including a review of government policies, national security doctrine and operational tactics for insuring safety in the field may be needed.
It pointed out that repeated rights violations in Irian Jaya, East Timor, Aceh and the unresolved Tanjung Priok and Lampung cases demonstrate that the violations were systematic in nature and typical of the authoritarian New Order government.
"A solution on a case-by-case basis cannot prevent (the ongoing) rights violations like in the three regions (Irian Jaya, East Timor, Aceh) which were the worst in the last 20 years," commission secretary-general Baharuddin Lopa said in reading the statement.
"There has never been a review or comprehensive solution on these systematic human rights violations."
People have been shocked by recent revelations of a multitude of rights violations, allegedly committed by the military during the 32-year rule of former president Soeharto.
Amid strong public pressure, the Armed Forces undertook an investigation into the case of missing activists and found that members of the Army's Special Force were involved in the abductions.
Rights groups have also reported atrocities including torture, abductions, rape and extrajudicial killings allegedly perpetrated by the military in Aceh during the early 1990s.
The military presence was beefed up at the time to quell the armed rebellion for an independent Aceh.
Minister of Defense and Security Affairs/Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto pledged last week to withdraw troops dispatched from outside the westernmost province and apologized for the military's conduct which exceeded "acceptable norms" during the military operations.
The government also withdrew troops from East Timor last month and ABRI also pledged to change its approach in Irian Jaya in a bid to win the hearts of people there.
The rights body welcomed yesterday the recent developments but noted that a comprehensive solution to these issues would still require fair legal and political actions, adding that "the truth must be uncovered".
In its statement, the rights body also renewed calls for the government to reopen the investigation into the July 27, 1996, bloody takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters in Central Jakarta, which erupted into a riot.
The rights body said that all people who were either directly or indirectly involved in the incident should be brought before the law.
While the statement said the government should cease meddling in the internal matters of political and mass organizations, deputy chairman Marzuki Darusman was more direct in his explanation to reporters.
"Our hope is for the government to rescind its support for Soerjadi's camp in the PDI so that the conflicting parties can find it easier to seek a solution," Marzuki said.
Soerjadi ousted Megawati Soekarnoputri as party chief in a government-backed congress in 1996.
Commenting on the controversial bill No. 2/1998 on freedom of expression, the rights body said it saw no "critical condition" necessitating a new ruling regulating such freedoms.
It asserted that the bill must immediately be withdrawn.
The bill, which includes a requirement for a permit for a public rally involving more than 50 people, was recently forwarded by the government to the House of Representatives. (byg)