More than one hundred retired armed forces and police generals met in Jakarta Thursday to discuss gross human rights violations.

Among those present were former Vice President Try Sutrisno, former armed forces commander Wiranto, former chief of staff Wismoyo Arimunandar, former chief of police Awaloedin Djamin and former chairman of the MPR Kharis Suhud.

Others who were present included former Jakarta governor Sutiyoso, the former governor of East Java Basofie Sudirman, the head of BIN Syamsir Siregar and the former head of the TNI/Polri Group Saiful Sulun., as well as the former chief of BAIS Aria Sudewo, EE Mangindaan former governor of North Sumatra, now a member of Parliament.

The meeting was closed to the public but before it began, Wiranto said that many people including retired officers still don't understand anything about gross human rights violations..

"There are many one-sided assessments which lead to accusations that the TNI behaved like the Nazi army or did things like what happened in Rwanda or Cambodia which led to millions of victims." he said.

He said that gross human rights violations as stipulated in Law No 26, 2000 on human rights courts say that a number of criteria must be met, such as genocide or crimes against humanity that were perpetrated systematically and had a wide impact.

Incidents such as the Tanjung Priok case in 1984, the Talangsari (Lampung) case in 1989, the disappearances in 1997/98, as well as the Trisakti case, the May riots and the Semanggi case in 1998/99 were not identified as gross human rights violations. This means that there must be a proper understanding of human rights violations not only by human rights enforcers but also by retired officers and officers still on active service.

Sutiyoso said that in its investigations about gross human rights violations, Komnas HAM must have a correct understanding of what is meant, and coordinate their investigations well.

He mentioned as an example the Talangsari incident which was a war against certain elements who wanted to engage in subversion and were in favour of setting up an Islamic state. The Talangsari case did not involve any human rights violations.

Sutiyoso said that no single TNI officer has ever intended to kill their own people. "What they did was to perform their state duties," he said.

He suggested that Komnas HAM should explain human rights values to the public at large so that the matter can be properly understood and not lead to accusations.

[Slightly abridged translation by TAPOL.]