Rights commission urged to submit report to AGO

Rights commission urged to submit report to AGO

Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Human rights activists urged the National Commission on Human
Rights (Komnas HAM) to let the Attorney General's Office start
probing the Trisakti and Semanggi killings to end the polemics
over its inquiry into the cases.

The Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI)
said on Tuesday that Komnas HAM should immediately submit its
inquiry report that identified the military and police officers
involved in the 1998/1999 killings to the Office.

"The longer the report stays with Komnas HAM, the more likely
the commission would be a lame duck for those who are not happy
with the efforts to unravel human rights crimes," YLBHI civil and
political division head Munarman told The Jakarta Post.

Munir, co-founder of the Commission for Missing Persons and
Victims of Violence said that the inquiry report, which was
completed on March 21, was substantial enough to prove that gross
human rights violations had been committed.

The polemics hover around allegations by the police and
military institutions that Komnas HAM inquiry is unlawful because
its membership had expired last September according to a 1999 law
on the commission.

The inquiry demanded that 50 high and middle-ranking military
and police officers, believed to be involved in the killings of
dozens of people including protesting students, be charged with
crimes against humanity.

It concluded that the incidents occurred "for the sake of
political interests".

Komnas HAM secretary-general Asmara Nababan said that the
commission planned to hold its plenary meeting on Thursday next
week.

Nababan foresaw two possible outcomes: the inquiry report
would be accepted and handed to the Attorney General's Office or
Komnas HAM would resummon security officers to complete it.

In last week's session, the House underlined that Komnas HAM
had no right to conduct the inquiry, arguing that the legislators
had earlier decided that no rights violations had been found in
the cases.

But the rights activists challenged the stance of the House,
pointing out that the legislators had crossed their line of
authority by transforming a hearing into a court trial to decide
whether the Trisakti and Semanggi cases were gross human rights
violations.