Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The attack that killed four detainees at a Yogyakarta prison last month was an extrajudicial killing and a human rights violation for which the government should be held accountable, the national human rights body said on Friday.
"This is clearly a human rights violation. The attack at the Cebongan Prison in Sleman and the killing of four detainees is an attack on the supremacy of the law and can therefore not be justified for any reason," said Siti Noor Laila, chairwoman of the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM).
Eleven Special Forces (Kopassus) members stand accused of storming the prison on March 23 and executing four men awaiting trial for killing a fellow soldier during a brawl at a cafe in Yogyakarta.
Describing the revenge attack as unacceptable, Siti said Komnas HAM wanted the government to take responsibility because the incident was an attack against a state institution and the state failed to protect its citizens.
"While the incident at Hugo's Cafe was purely criminal, the attack at the prison was an assault against a state institution," she said. The human rights body vowed to continue the investigation until it reached a conclusion.
Siti said Komnas HAM would question the victims' families, witnesses, and several military commanders in the area, as well as the officers named as suspects in the attack. "Komnas HAM is still investigating whether or not their superiors were involved," she said.
She added that while the military announced that 11 people took part in the deadly attack, Komnas HAM believed another three were involved, based on a reconstruction of the incident.
"Every perpetrator had their own specific role during the attack," Siti said. "While someone acted as a look-out, others disabled the closed-circuit television system and held the prison wardens hostage. Someone also drove the cars used by the attackers."
The reconstruction also showed that the perpetrators had used AK-47 assault rifles, handguns and two grenades in the attack. "We found 21 bullets and 31 spent cartridge shells, one of which we have submitted to Yogyakarta Police investigators," Siti added.
Meanwhile, House of Representatives Deputy Speaker Priyo Budi Santoso cautioned Komnas HAM to be extremely careful before labeling the prison attack as a human rights violation. He said a case had to meet certain criteria before it could be labeled as a human rights violation.
"The standard for a gross human rights violation is not just somebody getting killed, but it should also be massive. One thing for certain is that Komnas HAM has to be fair," the Golkar Party legislator said in Jakarta on Friday.
He added that he personally thought the attack was unjustifiable, even if it was committed based on a sense of solidarity referred to as esprit de corps. "Military officers cannot use the law of the jungle," he said.