Lilian Budianto, Jakarta – Retired military and police generals met in Jakarta on Thursday, telling the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) to stop probing past human rights cases implicating armed forces officers.
They urged the government to replace Komnas HAM members, arguing they lacked integrity and legal backgrounds to work professionally. Those meeting at Balai Sudirman, Jakarta, included retired Army generals recently summoned by Komnas HAM concerning involvement in the 1989 Talangsari, Lampung, shooting incident.
The rights body earlier summoned former Armed Forces chief Gen. (ret) Try Sutrisno, then Army Special Forces commander Gen. (ret) Wismoyo Arismunandar and the Lampung military commander when the incident took place Gen. (ret) A.M. Hendropriyono. All of them defied the summonses.
Commissioner Johny Nelson Simanjuntak said the rights body would file to subpoena the generals with the Central Jakarta District Court.
Hendropriyono, who ignored the first summons scheduled for Feb. 22 and second on March 3, said he never received a summons. The former National Intelligence Agency chief insisted the Talangsari military action was a state duty to quell separatism.
In a statement read out at the meeting, the former generals demanded the government review the provision in the 2006 amended human rights law authorizing Komnas HAM to investigate rights cases that occurred prior to its enactment.
They argued that a provision in the 1945 Constitution stated that no new law could be applied retroactively. This would remove from Komnas HAM any right to investigate the Talangsari incident and other cases prior to the 1999 enactment of the human rights law, they added.
"We urge the government to be consistent and clear about the constitutional provisions, to prevent people from deliberate misinterpretation to justify their illegal moves," said the statement as quoted by Antara news agency.
The generals supported defiance of the summons issued by Komnas HAM, saying the rights commission had abused its authority.
Hendardi, who chairs rights group Setara Institute, slammed the generals' call, accusing them of hiding themselves behind a legal instrument to avoid facing responsibility.
"If Wiranto (a former armed forces chief implicated in the bloody 1998 riots) wanted to deny any human rights abuse charges, he should have shown up at Komnas HAM to explain about it," he said. "State duty is not justification for committing human rights violations." The Talangsari incident sparked debate when Defense Minister Juwono Sudarsono encouraged retired generals to ignore the summonses because the rights body had no authority to investigate it, citing the retroactivity argument.
However, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono voiced backing for the Komnas HAM's move, ordering all government institutions to support any investigation or examination into alleged crimes against humanity conducted by the rights body.
The Talangsari incident refers to a dawn attack by a battalion of Army soldiers on the village, which was believed to be home to a group, led by Warsidi, accused of attempting to establish an Indonesian Islamic state.
Officials said 27 members of the Warsidi-led Koran recital group were killed in the incident, but rights groups put the death toll as high as 246.