Jakarta – Vice presidential candidate Wiranto still defended his past performance in the military and the government, despite being bombarded by questions and condemnations from human rights activists and victims at the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute Foundation (YLBHI) building on Thursday.
The former chief commander of the Indonesian Military and defense minister who was asked to take responsibility for past human rights abuses in Aceh, the former East Timor province and the May 1998 riots, insisted he had not been involved in the incidents that he said had claimed many lives, as a consequence of measures taken by the government.
A number of human rights activists and law experts, including Todung Mulya Lubis, Bambang Widjojanto, Adnan Buyung Nasution and Gusti Randa, grilled Wiranto about the incidents at the YLBHI building.
Outside, dozens of relatives of human rights victims yelled out against Wiranto's vice presidency, demanding the government form an ad hoc human rights court to try him.
Wiranto, also chairman of the People's Conscience Party (Hanura), reiterated no courts had so far found him guilty of any of the cases. "It doesn't mean I'm not untouchable. I have followed all the processes, but I have never been declared a suspect or a defendant in any human rights case," he said.
He however apologized for his mistakes because he himself regretted the incidents "and the public should also respect my human rights to defend myself".
Human Rights Working Group coordinator Rafendi Djamin and executive director of the Setara Institute for Democracy and Peace Setara Hendardi Thursday reminded the public former generals Wiranto and Prabowo had previously been implicated in a series of human rights violations.
Prabowo, who was former chief of the Army's Strategic Reserve Force (Kostrad), has paired up with Megawati Soekarnoputri for the presidential election.
"It is impossible for presidential and vice presidential candidates who have gross human rights violation records to enforce human rights," Rafendy said. He said the two were using the campaign season to redress their poor track record.
Hendardi opposed the dialogue and said their visit to the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation building would certainly aggravate human rights victims and their relatives.
Hendardi said the two's human rights campaigns were really a manipulation of facts in which they were part of the problem to be solved, and voters should not be deceived by their empty political pledges. (fmb)