ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - GENERAL APPEALS PROGRAM
5 December 2006
------------------------------------------------------
UG-024-2006: INDONESIA: Continued Impunity ensured by the apathy of the Attorney General
INDONESIA: Forced disappearances; Attorney General's reluctance to prosecute in cases of gross human rights violations
------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) regarding the recent developments in the yet unsolved case of the disappearances of 14 students and activists over the period of 1998 and 1999 across several undisclosed locations in Indonesia: the "handiwork" of the then President Soeharto's New Order Government.
We have also been informed of the recent publication of an investigative report by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas Ham) in which the Attorney General has been urged to fulfill his most basic duties, in the filing of formal charges against the alleged perpetrators of the abductions of 1998 and 1999.
Furthermore, Komnas Ham has in its report clearly classified these abductions and a number of others as gross Human Rights violations, as defined under law No. 26 of 2000. The reluctance on the part of the Attorney General to press for the recommendation of these cases to be prosecuted before an Ad Hoc Human Rights Court, and in conducting further investigations, has perplexed many in Indonesia and the international community.
Article 20 of Law 26 of 2000 stipulates:
1. Should the National Commission on Human Rights consider there is sufficient
preliminary evidence that a gross violation of human rights has occurred, a summary of the findings of the inquiry shall be submitted to the investigator.
2. No later than 7 (seven) working days following the submission of the summary findings of inquiry, the National Commission on Human Rights shall submit the inquiry findings in full to the investigator.
3. In the event that the investigator considers the inquiry findings referred to in clause (2) insufficient, the inquirer shall immediately re-submit the inquiry findings to the investigator accompanied by guidelines for their completion, and within 30 (days) of receiving the inquiry findings, the investigator is required to consummate these insufficiencies.
The relevance of the issues raised above must be seen in the context of two major issues: the tradition of impunity currently enjoyed by the perpetrators of human rights violations in Indonesia, and the denial of justice to the victims thereby undermining public faith in the Justice system as a whole.
Kidnappings and brutal assassinations became the signature style of Soeharto's New Order Regime, and has become somewhat of an institutional practice of Indonesian Government and governance since then. In the lead-up to the 1996 general elections, several key members of the Indonesian Democratic Party Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) were abducted and were never heard from again. Then again, during the May Riots of 1998, several key activist members of the Democratic People's Party and the Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy were abducted. It is common knowledge that the military were largely responsible for this series of politically-motivated abductions.
The mass protest of the public masses against these kidnappings was successful in ensuring the release of eight young activist students; however, 14 democracy activists are still unaccounted for. Their names are; Suyat, Yani Afri, Sonny, M. Yusuf, Noval Alkatiri, Dedy Hamdun, Ismail, Bimo Petrus, Abdun Naser, Hendra Hambali, Ucok Siahaan, Yadin Muhidin and Wiji Thukul.
In late 1998, the military court tried and prosecuted 11 officers of the Mawar Specialist Unit of the Kopasus Armed Forces, who publicly admitted their guilt and part played in the abduction of 9 of the 14 activists. They were sentenced to 15-26 months imprisonment, and were forced to resign from the TNI State Army.
In 1999, the bereaved families of the abduction victims submitted a joint lawsuit to the East Jakarta State Court, in which they demanded that the Commander of the TNI State Army be held accountable for the abductions. In early 2005, Komnas Ham conducted an official review of the student-abductions of 1998, and appointed an investigative outfit to make more detailed and in-depth investigative enquiries. However their efforts to investigative Military Generals and the Kapasus Specialist Forces believed to have orchestrated the abductions, as well as the suspected sites of detainment and torture of the victims, were blocked at every stage.
KOMNAS HAM submitted an official report of their investigative findings to the Attorney General, the Supreme Court and the Indonesian Parliament on 8 November 2006. In their report, KOMNAS HAM implicated 27 officers of the TNI State Army, National Police (Polri) and State Intelligentsia (BIN).
Unfortunately, the Attorney General has taken no action in pursuing the matter further, and in pressing for a prosecutory trial. Such behaviour defeats the purpose, and undermines the integrity of the prosecution system. In the case of clear human rights violations on the part of the State, it is the fundamental responsibility of the Attorney General to conduct further investigations in the event that further evidence is required, to request the House of Representatives to authorize the filing of the case(s) with the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court, and to oversee the provision of adequate redress to the victims and/or their families.
The inactivity of the Attorney General in this matter has been roundly and publicly condemned by the House Commission III on Human Rights, as well as Komnas Ham themselves. Said Komnas Ham Official Enny Suprapto; "In spite of the significant evidence that we have found, the Attorney General's Office refused to carry out its own investigation. It has refused to seek testimony from experts or look for new evidence at locations considered to be places where the activists were allegedly held captive".
The gross human rights violations committed both by the Military and the Police in the murder of over 35 young students in Trisakti and Semanggi in 1998 and 1999 have also suffered a similar fate (See our previous appeals: UA-23-2002; UP-81-2005, UP-102-2005).
Given the gravity of the crime committed, the prolonged stagnation of justice for the victims of gross human rights violations paints a very negative picture of the Indonesian State; particularly of its Prosecution system. It is a sad fact that justice remains a dingy prospect for many Indonesians.
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the Attorney General of Indonesia, expressing your grave concern over the inexcusable delay of justice for the then Government-authorized abductions of the 14 said activist students in 1998 and 1999.
Sample letter:
Dear Attorney General,
INDONESIA: Justice long overdue for the student abductions of 1998
Name of victims:
1) Suyat, 2) Yani Afri, 3) Sonny, 4) M. Yusuf, 5) Noval Alkatiri, 6) Dedy Hamdun, 7) Ismail, 8) Bimo Petrus, 9) Abdun Naser, 10) Hendra Hambali, 11) Ucok Siahaan, 12) Yadin Muhidin, 13) Wiji Thukul, 14) Herman Hendrawan
(All the victims are student activists who had been allegedly kidnapped by the security personnel)
Alleged perpetrators: 27 officers of the TNI state army, State Intelligence (BIN) and National Police (Polri)
Date of incident: 1998-1999
Place of incident: Several locations
I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the reluctance on the part of the Attorney General in the yet unsolved case of the abductions of 14 student activists by security personnel of the New Order Regime led by the then President Soeharto over the period of 1998-99 across several unspecified locations in Indonesia.
Kidnappings and brutal assassinations became the signature style of the New Order Regime, and have become somewhat of an institutional practice of Indonesian Government and governance since then. During the May Riots of 1998, several key activist members of the Democratic People's Party and the Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy were abducted. It is common knowledge that the Military were largely responsible for this series of politically-motivated abductions.
The mass protest of the public masses against these kidnappings was successful in ensuring the release of eight activists and students; however, 14 activists mentioned above are still unaccounted for.
In early 2005, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas Ham) conducted an official review of the abductions of 1998/99, and made more detailed and in-depth investigative enquiries. However, their efforts to investigative military generals and officers of the Kapasus Specialist Forces believed to have orchestrated the abductions, as well as the suspected sites of detainment and torture of the victims, were blocked at every stage.
Komnas Ham submitted an official report of their investigative findings to the Attorney General, the Supreme Court and the Indonesian Parliament on 8 November 2006. In their report, Komnas Ham implicated 27 officers of the TNI State Army, National Police (Polri) and State Intelligentsia (BIN).
Unfortunately, till date the Attorney General has taken no action in pursuing the matter further, and in pressing for a prosecutory trial. Such behaviour defeats the purpose, and undermines the integrity of the prosecution system. In the case of clear human rights violations on the part of the State, it is the fundamental responsibility of the Attorney General to conduct further investigations in the event that further evidence is required, to request the House of Representatives to authorize the filing of the case(s) with the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court, and to oversee the provision of adequate redress to the victims and/or their families.
The gross human rights violations committed both by the military and the police in the murder of over 35 young students in Trisakti and Semanggi in 1998 and 1999 have also suffered a similar fate.
I am deeply disturbed to learn of the Indonesian Government's evident lack of interest in this matter. The Indonesia is bound by the obligations of their membership to the UN Human Rights Council to oversee the fulfillment and protection of those rights for its citizens, and more importantly, to ensure the right to redress for those of its citizens whose rights have been violated. That an official investigation has yet to be authorized by the Attorney General eight years after the incident, despite the insurmountable evidence accumulated by the Komnas Ham in that time, is both unacceptable and inexcusable.
Therefore, I strongly urge you to ensure the gross human rights violations committed by the Indonesian state military as implicated by Komnas Ham be tried before an Ad Hoc human rights court for their involvement in and orchestration of the abduction and probably torture of these listed missing persons. In addition, it is the responsibility of the Attorney General to prosecute those officers within the military who attempted to block the due investigative procedure by denying KOMNAS HAM's independent investigative outfit access to suspected sites of detention and torture of the victims.
The abduction of citizens on the basis of their exercising their fundamental democratic right to freedom of expression is a gross violation of human rights, and must be stopped. It is therefore imperative that you together with Attorney General take immediate steps in ensuring that all such cases of abductions are subject to proper investigation, and prosecution.
Yours sincerely,
----------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:
1.Mr. Abdul Rahman Saleh
Attorney General
Kejaksaan Agung RI
Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin No. 1
Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 7221337, 7397602
Fax: + 62 21 7250213
PLEASE SEND A COPY OF YOUR LETTER TO:
1. Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudoyono
President
Republic of Indonesia
Presidential Palace
Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara
Jakarta Pusat 10010
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 3845627 ext 1003
Fax: + 62 21 231 41 38, 345 2685, 345 7782
2. Mr. Agung Laksono
Chief of the Indonesian House of Representative
Gedung DPR/MPR RI
Jl. Gatot Subroto No. 6
Jakarta
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 5715509; 5715344; 5715621
Fax: + 62 21 5714469, 5734389
3. Mr. Hamid Awaluddin
Minister of Justice and Human Rights
Uahi Utoyo Usman S.H.,
Menteri Kehkiman,
JI. H.R. Rosuna Said Kav. 6-7
Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Fax: +62 21 525 3095
4. Mr. Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara
Chairperson
KOMNAS HAM
Jl. Latuharhary No. 4B Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10310
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 3925230
Fax: +62 21 3151042/3925227
5. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders
Att: Melinda Ching Simon
Room 1-040
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS)
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)
Asian Human Rights Commission
19/F, Go-Up Commercial Building,
998 Canton Road, Kowloon, Hongkong S.A.R.
Tel: +(852) - 2698-6339 Fax: +(852) - 2698-6367