Truth commission considered crucial
Truth commission considered crucial
JAKARTA (JP): A truth commission is a crucial complement to
criminal prosecution as the former is "less expensive" and better
able to address thousands of cases of past human rights
violations, experts say.
"Criminal prosecutions of past human rights violations tend to
be very expensive as they need professional investigators,
prosecutors and judges," Douglas Cassel, director of the Center
for International Human Rights at the Northwestern University
School of Law, told a discussion on a truth commission here on
Friday evening.
He said that in criminal cases, "the perpetrators often
conceal evidence, intimidate witnesses and they often have strong
and a well-financed team of defense lawyers".
He added that even in a successful prosecution, the question
before the court is limited to "did this accused commit this
crime?" so that broader and systemic questions are irrelevant.
Therefore, Cassel said, a truth commission should be
considered as another mechanism to address past human rights
violations.
"The commission can give large numbers of victims the
opportunity to tell their story and identify large numbers of
victims for possible reparations," Cassel said.
He also said such a commission could address questions such as
patterns and reasons for human rights violations and weaknesses
in a state and society that permitted violations to occur.
"The truth commission can then recommend reforms of laws and
institutions, designed to prevent a recurrence of violations in
the future," Cassel said.
Cassel said, however, that "criminal prosecutions and truth
commissions are not one or the other".
"It is possible to do both ... each can accomplish important
objectives which cannot be accomplished by the other.
"A decision should be made whether to give primacy over
certain cases to the prosecutor or to the truth commission,"
Cassel added.
Paul Van Zyl, a former executive secretary of South Africa's
truth and reconciliation commission who also spoke at the
seminar, shared Cassel's opinion, saying that Indonesia "needs to
ensure that these two must complement each other rather than
contradict each other".
The statements come as human rights campaigners have been
calling for a truth and reconciliation commission to allow the
country to come to terms with its traumatic recent past.
The government has responded by drafting a bill on a truth and
reconciliation commission which is scheduled to be submitted to
the House of Representatives in March.(byg)