M. Taufiqurrahman, Jakarta – The two biggest factions in the House of Representatives have balked at applying a retroactive principle for a human rights tribunal for Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, which would effectively bar it from trying members of the military.

The Golkar Party and the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) opposed Wednesday the provision to invest the tribunal with the authority to try past human rights abuses, which would have included alleged violations committed when the province was under military control in the 1990s.

Lawmaker Marzuki Darusman of the Golkar faction said the court should only hear cases of violations committed after the law came into effect.

"The retroactive principle should not be applicable for the rights tribunal in Aceh," said Marzuki, who was attorney general during the administration of Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid.

He recommended that a new political consensus should be reached on the handling of rights abuses or crimes against humanity that took place in the past 10 years.

Sutradara Gintings from the PDI-P faction said the rights tribunal in Aceh could not hear cases of rights abuses allegedly committed by members of the Indonesian Military (TNI).

He demanded TNI personnel should be entitled to the same exemption from prosecution provided to Free Aceh Movement (GAM) members following the signing of the Helsinki peace accord last August that ended almost 30 years of strife.

"Equality must prevail for both sides. If GAM members could walk free from their crimes because of the mass amnesty, why shouldn't TNI members be given a break from the human rights tribunal?" Sutradara also said the rights tribunal should be limited to six months in duration.

The PDI-P faction has from the outset expressed reservations about the bill's contents, claiming it panders to the demands of the former rebels. The bill only mandates the establishment of a rights tribunal and truth and reconciliation commission. It also has been debated if the court's structure would follow that of ones established in Jakarta, Makassar, Medan and Surabaya.

Although deliberation of the bill is nearing completion, with 90 percent of its content discussed by a special committee, more time will be needed to perfect the legal draft.

Communications and Information Minister Sofyan A. Djalil, the government's representative at the deliberations, said the rights tribunal in Aceh would be an effective deterrent.

"It will serve more as a human rights watchdog in Aceh," Sofyan said.