Tribunal vital for legal proceedings
JAKARTA (JP): National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) chief Marzuki Darusman said that a national human rights tribunal could help substantiate reports and accelerate legal proceedings of alleged abuses in East Timor.
Marzuki told The Jakarta Post that a human rights tribunal was needed "to immediately institute legal proceedings" once the findings of an international commission of inquiry on East Timor "substantiate reports of the alleged wrongdoings" in the former Portuguese colony.
"(The establishment of the tribunal) goes very substantively in convincing the international community that we are serious in doing whatever needs to be done to inquire into the reports," Marzuki said.
He said the establishment of the human rights tribunal could take up to two months.
The UN Human Rights Commission adopted a resolution on Monday calling for an international commission of inquiry to investigate the alleged human rights abuses in East Timor following the Aug. 30 ballot that resulted in a vote against autonomy within Indonesia.
Indonesia and many Asian countries voted against the resolution, which Jakarta regards as nonbinding.
Minister of Justice/State Secretary Muladi announced on Wednesday that the government would soon issue a regulation in lieu of law to establish the tribunal.
The establishment of an Indonesian human rights tribunal is in accordance with Article 104 of the human rights law, which was ratified last Thursday.
The Article stipulates that a human rights tribunal should be established to prosecute gross violations of human rights, which include genocide, extra judicial killings, torture, involuntarily disappearances, slavery and systematic discrimination.
The establishment of a national tribunal would likely mean that should prosecution be necessary, those indicted would only have to go before a human rights court here.
International human rights watchdogs said that a number of Indonesian Military (TNI) officials were allegedly involved in the violence in East Timor.
When asked, Marzuki refused to speculate.
"We know that there are reports that mention the alleged involvement of a number of names within the TNI, but the reports are highly speculative ... So we, at the moment, will not be starting from that assumption," Marzuki said.
Djoko Soegianto, deputy chairman of the rights body, said that the planned human rights tribunal would be made up of an ad hoc committee.
Such a committee is expected to comprise nongovernment and nonmilitary legal practitioners.
"There are considerations that the judges and prosecutors at the tribunal will be a number of experts from various fields," Djoko said.
Former judge Benjamin Mangkudilaga is among the names which have been circulating to possibly head the tribunal.
Rights body member H.S. Dillon said on Wednesday that Komnas HAM will only recommend those who have integrity and credibility to sit on the tribunal.
Marzuki added that once established the tribunal's work could also incorporate violations from other parts of the country. (byg)