Solahuddin Wahid clarifies

Solahuddin Wahid clarifies

Having read the news report on page one of The Jakarta Post on
May 21, under the title of Wiranto clear of rights abuse:
Solahuddin, I, as the resource person for this news report, have
my objections, particularly to paragraph three of the report,
which reads: "It is now up to them to decide. But from all the
evidence the commission has gathered, Wiranto is innocent of
gross human rights violations, said Solahuddin." I would like to
clarify as follows:
* I have never said that on the basis of the evidence that the
National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has gathered,
Wiranto is not guilty of gross human rights violations. What I
have, in fact, said is that until now there has not been a
permanent legal decision to declare Wiranto guilty in the May
1998 riots. It is beyond my competence or that of Komnas HAM to
declare somebody guilty or innocent.
* The authority to decide that someone is guilty or innocent
rests with the judge in a court of law. Komnas HAM, particularly
with respect to the chairman of the ad hoc team, has performed
its duties in carrying out, on the basis of Law No. 25/2000 and
Law No. 39/1999, a probe into the May 1998 riots.

A probe is intended to find sufficient preliminary evidence
about a particular criminal act and the perpetrators that should
allegedly be held responsible for this crime. It is not a legal
basis on which someone is declared guilty or innocent.
* The result of this probe has been submitted to the Attorney
General's Office in order that it may be followed up with an
investigation. The probe report concludes that there were gross
human rights violations in the May 1998 riots and that some
people were allegedly responsible for these violations. As a
member of the team assigned to probe the May 1998 riots, I am
bound by the law to keep confidential the names of those
allegedly responsible for this incident.
* My rejection of foreign intervention in the settlement of legal
problems that the Indonesians can themselves settle is based on a
wish to maintain Indonesian people's dignity and sovereignty.

SOLAHUDDIN WAHID
Jakarta

Note: Thank you for your clarification.

-- Editor