Tribunal vital for legal proceedings
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)