Jakarta – An activist says military courts should not revue human rights abuse allegations levied against Indonesian Military (TNI) members in dozens of unresolved torture cases involving civilians.
Haris Azhar, the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), said that military tribunals lack independence and cannot provide fair trials.
"Kontras recorded at least eight military-involved incidents of violence in Papua between July and September, killing 23 people, and severely injuring 18 others," Haris said in a press statement released on Sunday in advance of the TNI's 66th anniversary.
The commission also recorded allegations of violence allegedly perpetrated by TNI members in Kebumen, Central Java.
In most cases, military tribunals were closed to the public, preventing the victims of human rights violations from obtaining justice, he said.
For example, the TNI members convicted in connection to the death of Charles Mali while in detention at the Army's 744th Battalion headquarters in Atambua, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), were all sentenced to less than one year in prison by the Kupang Military Court.
In a separate incident, the Jayapura Military Court sent three soldiers to jail in January for less than a year each for torturing two Papuans, despite critics who claimed that the torture comprised a serious abuse of human rights.
"If the House of Representatives and the government manages to revise the Military Tribunal Law, then we hope that it will ensure that military courts only judge military violations, while human rights violations would be tried separately at the Human Rights Court," Haris said. The TNI had used military courts to avoid the Human Rights Court, Haris said.
The House of Representatives said it would not revise the Military Tribunal Law this year, after failing to pass revisions during legislative sessions between 2005 and 2008.
On its official website, the Defense Ministry said deliberations on the Military Tribunal Law were not a priority due to the political situation.
Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said on the website that his current priorities were bills on defense industry revitalization, national security, and state security, adding that revising the Military Tribunal Law would be his next priority.
"The delay would benefit the ministry, as it has a longer time to complete the bill's draft, by accommodating experts though, and gathering input," he said. (rpt)