Tyasno apologizes for Army's past mistakes
Tyasno apologizes for Army's past mistakes
JAKARTA (JP): Army Chief of Staff Gen. Tyasno Sudarto
delivered an apology to the nation on Wednesday for "Army troops'
past mistakes" and pledged such actions would not be repeated in
the future.
"In my capacity as the Army chief of staff, I officially
apologize to people for Army troops' past mistakes," Tyasno was
quoted by Antara news agency as saying in the Central Java
capital of Semarang.
Tyasno did not elaborate on what he meant by "past mistakes",
but many believe the Army was involved in a number of human
rights abuses during the rule of former president Soeharto.
Tyasno assured the apology was "sincere" and promised the Army
would "not repeat the same mistakes in the future".
He also said the Army would support the government's efforts
to settle past human rights abuses through a truth and
reconciliation commission, and that his troops would comply with
the Constitution and uphold law and democracy.
Tyasno appeared to stress that while past mistakes should not
be forgotten, it was more important to look to the future.
He urged against being fixated on the past and aggravating
past errors by seeking vengeance, while overlooking the
tremendous challenges the nation faces for the future.
Tyasno's statement came only days after the Indonesian
Military (TNI)'s top brass met to map out the organization's
future, with promises of abandoning its sociopolitical role and
concentrating solely on defense affairs.
TNI Commander Adm. Widodo A.S. said last week the military "is
out of politics now and we will concentrate on defending the
nation".
He also said all soldiers were committed to abandoning
politics, and that any soldier who wanted to be active in
politics had to retire from the military.
Many believe the Army was in the past misused by Soeharto to
suppress dissidents, leading to a number of human rights abuses.
Last year's violence in East Timor and military atrocities
committed during a decade-long antirebel operation in the
troubled province of Aceh are among a number of high-profile
cases currently being investigated. (byg)