YLBHI under fire as suspect lawyers take charge

YLBHI under fire as suspect lawyers take charge

Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Criticism of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation
(YLBHI) has mounted following the taking control of the once
respected non-governmental organization by senior lawyers linked
to the military and graft suspects.

Lawyers and human rights campaigners expressed doubt on
Wednesday that the rift-ridden YLBHI would remain independent in
its struggle for justice and democracy under the leadership of
Adnan Buyung Nasution, who once served as a lawyer for military
officers charged with rights abuses in East Timor in 1999.

"With some senior lawyers closely linked to the military and
corrupters occupying posts in the organization, the YLBHI's
independence is doubtful. It will be hard for it to be impartial
as its executives will suffer from conflicts of interest,"
Hendardi, director of the Legal Aid and Human Rights Association
(PBHI), told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

Buyung, a YLBHI co-founder, announced on Wednesday that he had
been named last week as the chairman of the organization's
powerful board of trustees, even though he had been suspended as
a member in 2000 for defending military officers involved in the
East Timor mayhem.

His appointment followed the resignation of his inactive
predecessor Ali Sadikin, a former Jakarta governor, for health
reasons.

The new members of the board of trustees include Muhammad
Assegaf, who is one of the lawyers for former president
Soeharto's family, many members of which currently find
themselves mired in corruption scandals and other criminal cases.

"Buyung taught me when I was a YLBHI member for 13 years to
stay away from conflicts of interest in trying to secure justice
for victims. But he's has not remained consistent to the
organization's mission as he has defended the military," Hendardi
said.

Hendardi, who quit the organization and established the
Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI) in 1996
following an internal dispute within the YLBHI, criticized the
inclusion of Assegaf on the YLBHI's board of trustees.

"Buyung's presence is, in itself, problematic, and with the
presence of Assegaf there, it will only worsen the YLBHI's
deteriorating image and further plunge it into discord," he
asserted.

He said its eroded impartiality had caused the YLBHI to suffer
"financial difficulties" in running its programs as several
international funding agencies, such as the Netherlands' Novib
organization, had ceased providing aid.

Todung Mulya Lubis, another respected human rights lawyer, is
rumored to be about to resign from the board of trustees.
However, he declined on Wednesday to comment on the rumors.

Other prominent lawyers, who asked for anonymity, said the
YLBHI was the subject of "serious politicking", with Buyung and
his colleagues taking over the organization's leadership in a bid
to stifle its promotion of democracy and advocacy against
military-linked violence.

They accused Buyung of trying to cleanse the YLBHI of
activists, including those in its regional branches, who had
ideas for changing the organization by sidelining them.

The conflict within the YLBHI escalated after its founders,
who also acted as the organization's board of trustees, rejected
the board of executives' proposal to change the organization from
a foundation to a loose association.

The rift peaked with the dismissal of the then YLBHI chairman,
Bambang Widjojanto, and the resignation of his vocal deputy,
Munir, from the organization early in December 2001.

The board of trustees later set up a caretaker board, led by
Irianto Subiyakto, to prepare for the election of a new YLBHI
executive board within six months.

Bambang and Munir were among the organization executives who
demanded the expulsion of Buyung from the YLBHI in January 2000
following the latter's move to defend military officers in the
East Timor case.

Irianto, who should have ended his term as caretaker chairman
last June, still holds the YLBHI top job, and facilitated
Buyung's reinstatement as a member of the board of trustees.