Dicky Christanto, Jakarta – Human rights activists continued to protest on Friday the nomination of Comr. Gen. Timur Pradopo to be the next National Police chief, saying they would lobby the House of Representatives to reject Timur.
The House has scheduled a "fit and proper test" for Timur next week, after he was named the sole candidate for the job by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Monday.
Top politicians from several parties including Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, the Golkar Party, the United Development Party and the Prosperous Justice Party have not objected to Timur's nomination. Others, however, protested the move.
Activists from several leading human rights NGOs vowed to intensify their lobbying of legislators to block Timur's appointment. According to activists, Timur was unlikely to uphold human rights. Three human rights-related incidents continue to dog Timur's nomination.
First, Timur was West Jakarta Police chief in 1998 during the Trisakti shooting, in which four students were killed. Second, he was Central Jakarta Police chief in 1999 during the Semanggi incident, when another student was killed. Third, Timur declined to answer a summons in 2003 from the National Commission for Human Rights to answer questions about his role in the Trisakti incident.
Al Araf, program director of Imparsial, an NGO focusing on human rights, said a series of meetings between activists and legislators had been scheduled to discuss the possibility of rejecting the President's nominee. "Ever since the Trisakti shootings, Timur has proven that he doesn't care about human rights," he said.
Araf said the NGOs has a list of potentially sympathetic legislators. "We must be very serious in showing them how dangerous it would be to approve Timur," he said.
Another Imparsial activist, Poengky Indarty, said that if the lobbying effort failed, activists would file a lawsuit with the State Administrative Court.
"We must bring these complaints regarding Timur's performance as police officer before the court and make them see that he is problematic and that is why we need to appoint another officer with cleaner background," she said.
Activists from the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) previously protested Timur's nomination, casting doubt on his ability to curb vigilante violence by groups such as the Islam Defenders Front (FPI). As Jakarta Police chief, Timur said that he would embrace the FPI to ensure security in the capital.
Kontras representative Usman Hamid said Timur's decision to embrace hard-liners had obviously violated the policy of current National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri, who recommended that the government take a strong stance against violent mass organizations.