TNI sets conditions for human rights body to summon generals
TNI sets conditions for human rights body to summon generals
Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Before it can summon retired and active generals for questioning
over the abduction of activists in the final years of the
Soeharto regime, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas
HAM) must first obtain permission from the House, the Indonesian
Military (TNI) says.
TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Thursday a
political recommendation from the House of Representatives was
necessary to give the commission a legal basis for questioning
military officers over the abductions, because of the non-
retroactivity principle in Law No. 39/1999 on human rights.
The military issued a statement last week saying it would not
cooperate with attempts by Komnas HAM to summon retired and
active generals over the abduction of prodemocracy activists
between 1997 and 1998.
The TNI said the investigation violated Article 4 of Law No.
39/1999 on human rights, which prohibits the retroactive
application of the law. The law was enacted in September 1999.
However, during a hearing with Komnas HAM last week, House
Commission III for legal affairs and human rights ordered the TNI
chief to give the rights commission complete access to any
information it might require for its probe.
"I have not received anything regarding that. The retroactive
principle can be dropped for gross human rights cases, but there
must be some legal grounds. I will give the commission access if
the legal procedures are completed," Endriartono said.
Komnas HAM maintains that the 1999 law authorizes the
commission to establish teams to monitor all human rights abuses,
with no political recommendations required from the House.
The deputy chairman of House Commission III, Akil Mochtar, who
presided over last week's hearing with Komnas HAM, said on
Thursday that Endriartono's demand for a political endorsement
was groundless and was simply an attempt to hinder the
investigation.
"There is no law saying that an investigation of gross human
rights abuses by Komnas HAM or the Attorney General's Office
needs the endorsement of the House," Akil said.
He said such an endorsement would only be needed to decide
whether an ad hoc human rights trial was necessary after the
dossiers from the investigations had been completed.
"There is no need for such an endorsement during the
investigation process. The TNI is just trying to escape (justice)
because military officers never want to be the subject of any
probe by Komnas HAM," he said.
Akil said Commission III sent a letter to House Speaker Aung
Laksono on Tuesday asking that TNI be ordered to cooperate fully
with Komnas HAM in its investigation.
Komnas HAM has said it has sent summons to 12 retired and
active Army officers, including Gen. (ret) Wiranto, Lt. Gen.
(ret) Prabowo Subianto and the current secretary-general of the
Ministry of Defense, Lt. Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.
The three were scheduled to appear last week for questioning,
but none of the officers showed up. The head of the Komnas HAM
subcommission probing the case, Ruswiati Suryasaputra, said
Wiranto had promised to appear on Friday.
The team also plans to summon nine other officers, including
Lt. Col. Chairawan, who now heads the Lilawangsa Military Command
overseeing security in northern and eastern Aceh.
Several prodemocracy activists were abducted ahead of
Soeharto's resignation in 1998 following massive riots across
Jakarta.
Law No. 26/2000 on Human Rights Court
Article 18 (1) : Investigations into alleged gross human rights
cases will be conducted by the National
Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Article 19 (1c): Investigators are authorized to
summon alleged victims and the accused for
questioning.
Law No. 39/1999 on human rights
Article 94 : Informants, victims, witnesses and/or other
related parties are required to respond to
cooperate with Komnas HAM in its investigations.