Lindsay Murdoch, Jakarta – Indonesia's discredited military yesterday won a blanket amnesty for past human rights abuses. Human rights activists are furious that a decree blocking prosecution of troops involved in abuses in provinces such as East Timor, Aceh and Irian Jaya was passed by the People's Consultative Assembly with little debate.
Top serving and retired officers, backed by Golkar, the party of former president Soeharto, put enormous pressure on politicians to pass the decree banning retroactive prosecution of human rights cases, parliamentary sources said. Some hardline officers used the threat of provoking unrest across the country, the sources added.
The ban effectively rules out charges against senior officers, because Indonesia's criminal code does not recognise culpability by those in command. Only those who carried out orders could be charged and prosecuted.
The Assembly Speaker, Dr Amien Rais, admitted that an amendment introducing the ban was an oversight unnoticed by many legislators. He also admitted he was unaware of the legal implications of the decree when it was approved by an assembly sub-committee.
An amendment detailing the ban was originally knocked back by committee members, who, Mr Rais said, had little knowledge of legal and human rights issues.
The move is a blow to efforts by President Abdurrahman Wahid to bring to justice members of the security forces accused of abuses.
It is almost certain to prompt new calls for the United Nations to set up its own war crimes tribunal to try Indonesians over last year's violence in East Timor.
The UN has set up a major crimes unit in the East Timorese capital, Dili. UN officials say it is possible that Indonesian soldiers could be extradited to East Timor to stand trial for crimes committed in the former Portuguese territory.
Prosecutors and experts appointed by the Attorney-General have spent months preparing evidence against senior officers, including the former armed forces chief General Wiranto.
The Government has drafted a separate bill aimed at creating a special court to deal with past human rights abuses by the security forces. The future of this bill, which is still being debated by the lower House of Representatives, is now in doubt.
The chairman of Indonesia's Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, Mr Munir, dismissed claims by some politicians that soldiers or police could still be tried over past abuses under the criminal code.
"All laws and bills which carry a retroactive principle will be defeated by this article of the Constitution," he said. "The criminal code does not recognise human rights crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity."
When Mr Munir confronted Dr Rais about the implications of the decree, Dr Rais replied: "Unfortunately, you came when the food has already been served ... probably you should come earlier so we can discuss it for a longer time."
But the chairman of the sub-committee, Mr Jacob Tobling, insisted that past abuses could still be brought to court. "I will be personally responsible if these cases cannot be processed," he said. "We could also revoke [the decree] in the future if it proves that way."
The decree states: "The right to life, the right to be free from torture, the right of freedom of thought and consciousness, the right of religion, the right not to be enslaved, the right to be recognised as an individual before the law, and the right not to be prosecuted based on a law which can be applied retroactively are human rights which cannot be diminished under any conditions."
The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation said: "If this [constitutional amendment] is done it will poison the legal system and set an extremely bad precedent in the matter of justice."
The Assembly also passed a controversial decree allowing the security forces to retain seats in parliament until 2009 – five years after a deadline set by the country's reform movement.