TNI spokesman, a beginning or an end of Sjafrie's career

TNI spokesman, a beginning or an end of Sjafrie's career

Imanuddin
Staff writer
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta

There was a total of 118 high-ranking officers affected by the
Feb. 15 reshuffle of the Indonesian Military (TNI), but a
particularly controversial change was the appointment of Maj.
Gen. Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin as the new TNI spokesman replacing Rear
Adm. Graito Usodo.

The promotion of Sjafrie came as a surprise, not only to the
general public, but also to the TNI high ranking promotions and
duty rotation council (Wanjakti), as the council had reportedly
recommended Navy spokesman Commodore Franky Kayhatu as the TNI
spokesman.

Although a president, who is also the Supreme Commander of the
TNI, has nothing to do with the appointment of a military
spokesman, an unnamed military source speculated that the
appointment of Sjafrie resulted from a meeting between TNI
Commander Adm. Widodo A.S. and President Megawati Soekarnoputri
at her residence on Jl. Teuku Umar in Central Jakarta hours
before a TNI leadership meeting on the evening of Feb. 15, which
finalized the massive reshuffle.

The speculation, however, was denied by Graito, an Air Force
officer, who said that his replacement by Sjafrie, an Army
officer, was just a rotation which had long been on the cards as
part of a standardized and fair planning system.

Sjafrie has been blamed for the deaths of four Trisakti
University students in May 1998 when they, along with hundreds of
other students, staged a rally in protest at former president
Soeharto's 32 years of autocratic rule.

The Trisakti incident, which triggered three days of massive
riots across the nation leaving no less than 1,000 people dead in
Jakarta alone, helped force Soeharto to step down in disgrace.

Being the Jakarta military commander, Sjafrie, along with his
close ally and classmate in the Military Academy, former Army's
Strategic Reserves (Kostrad) commander Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo
Subianto, was largely blamed for the military's inability to
quash the riots and protect innocent citizens.

Until now, more than three years after the riots took place,
the tragedy has remained unresolved.

Many also believe that Sjafrie was one of the key military
figures involved in the preparation and establishment of pro-
Jakarta militia groups in East Timor in the run-up to the United
Nations-sponsored referendum.

Sjafrie was once questioned by the Commission of Inquiry into
Human Rights Violations (KPP HAM) as eyewitnesses had told the
Inquiry that Sjafrie was seen at the scene when militias attacked
Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo's residence in Dili, East
Timor, on Sept. 6, 1999.

But, unlike his other military colleagues former Udayana
Military Commander Maj. Gen. Adam Damiri and former East Timor
Wiradharma Military Resort Commanders Brig. Gen. Tono Suratman
and Brig. Gen. A. Nur Muis, Sjafrie was not declared a suspect.

Sjafrie, who graduated from the Armed Forces Academy (Akabri)
in 1974 with the citation of best graduate, is also to be
subpoenaed by the National Commission of Inquiry probing the
three fatal shootings: the Trisakti, Semanggi I and Semanggi II
killings.

Coming from the ranks of the Kopassus elite Army corps, his
career quickly blossomed, in step with the meteoric rise of
Prabowo. He served as one of former president Soeharto's
adjutants, a prestigious and advantageous position for a military
officer in the Soeharto era, from 1993 until 1995.

But numerous human rights abuses and violations occurred at
the time he was Jakarta's military commander. Political dissent
was dealt with harshly and ruthlessly. Political dissidents
opposing Soeharto's New Order regime disappeared without a trace,
or were held incommunicado for days or weeks in secret cells in
terrible conditions.

At present, investigations into the human rights abuses that
occurred around that time are still underway though the military
is so far refusing to cooperate. That's why many, not only at
home but abroad as well, oppose Sjafrie's appointment to such an
important post.

Sjafrie is among the top military officers whom the KPP HAM on
the Trisakti, Semanggi I and Semanggi II incidents has summoned
to appear. So far, all of them have refused.

A senior military officer, however, defended Sjafrie's
appointment as the TNI spokesman, arguing that he had not yet
been proven guilty of the human rights violation allegations
against him.

As a military officer Sjafrie has mastered a wide range of
military skills and techniques.

He has been involved in a series of military operations in
Aceh, East Timor and Irian Jaya, and also participated in a
series of military exercises at both local and international
institutions.

Sjafrie has passed courses on basic Special Force tactics,
intelligence, Air Borne qualification, advanced military,
antiterrorism, and strategic intelligence as well.

And his degree in Business Administration, which he obtained
in 1993, has made him fit, and possibly even overqualified, for
the post of TNI spokesman.

He is the second TNI spokesman with a master's degree as well
as military skills, after Maj. Gen. Sudradjat, who is now
Director-general of Defense Strategy at the Ministry of Defense.
Sudradjat was the TNI spokesman from 1999 until 2000.

But, despite all the allegations, Sjafrie has likely enjoyed
his appointment as a TNI spokesman.

Unlike many of his seniors or colleagues who were removed from
their posts following allegations of human rights abuses despite
no subsequent trials proving their wrongdoings, Sjafrie was only
"kept" at "home" for several years before being given the
opportunity for a return to active and obvious military service.

People must still remember the case involving Maj. Gen.
Sintong Panjaitan, then Udayana Military Commander overseeing
Bali, East and West Nusa Tenggara and East Timor provinces, who
was removed in December 1991 over his alleged responsibility in
the Nov. 12, 1999 Santa Cruz incident in the East Timor capital
of Dili, which left 50 dead.

Without attempting to take his side, Sintong's alleged
wrongdoing has never been tried at home, but his military career
hasn't been revived either.

Similarly, Prabowo has never regained his place in the
military after being "honorably" discharged from his post as
Chief of the Military Staff and Command School (Seskogab) in 1998
following rights abuse allegations surrounding the disappearance
of student and political activists in early 1998.

And with his appointment as the TNI spokesman, the opportunity
is still there for Sjafrie to continue to advance his military
career. The opportunity is also there for him to prove whether
all the rights abuse allegations against him are true or not.

It has in the past few years been accepted in military and
police circles that being a spokesman no longer means the end of
one's career, such as happened in the past.

Two good examples were the appointment of former Armed Forces
(ABRI) spokesman Lt. Gen. Syarwan Hamid as the ABRI Chief of
Sociopolitical Affairs and Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, a former National
Police spokesman, as the National Police chief.