Tony Hotland, Jakarta – Indonesian Navy chief Admiral Slamet Soebijanto brushed off allegations of gross human rights abuse in last week's deadly clash between Marines and residents in Pasuruan, East Java, and maintained that the soldiers' behavior was justified.
"A gross human rights abuse is defined as an act that is designed systematically, planned and widespread, and there was no such thing," he said after installing Maj. Gen. Nono Sampono as new Marines commander, which, he added, was decided upon in early May and was not related to the clash.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has indicated it believes there were elements of gross human rights abuse in the clash over land that left four residents dead in the village of Alas Tlogo.
Slamet said the decision that soldiers would carry live ammunition when patrolling the plot of land, which both Marines and residents claim to own, was based on Navy procedures.
"We're military and thus we can carry live bullets. In training we carry blank cartridges, rubber and live bullets and each has its own procedure," he said. The Marines' behavior, Slamet said, abided by official Navy procedures and did not constitute an abuse of human rights.
Slamet added that a plan by Komnas HAM to summon replaced Marine commander Maj. Gen. Safzen Noerdin would first have to seek approval from Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Air Marshall Djoko Suyanto.
"It would require permission from the TNI chief. A summons cannot be addressed privately but institutionally. I wouldn't respond if, say, Komnas HAM summoned me. That's for the TNI chief to decide," he said.
Maj. Gen. Nono said the shooting occurred because the soldiers' lives were under threat. "There was a 'must' factor in the sense that the soldiers... had to shoot because their safety was threatened. Still, we must make time for (an investigation) and let law enforcers do their job," he said.
Navy military police have begun an investigation into the 13 Marines named as suspects in the shooting. The TNI chief has also created a team, consisting of Army and Air Force police units, to assist in the inquiry. Despite calls from rights activists that the trial be held in a civilian court, Slamet said the Marines would be tried in a military court.
Responding to the Komnas HAM plan to summon him, Safzen said he would leave the response to the TNI chief's handling. Safzen, who switched postings with Nono to become the Navy's new inspector general, alleged there were provocateurs in the incident, a fact, he said, that should be highlighted.
"Some of the evidence (alleges) that there was a command through the mosque's speakers and the beating of wood drums as people said it's either us or the Marines who die," he said.
The Navy said the gunshots were not aimed directly at residents but rather ricocheted of nearby objects, despite the findings of a special House of Representatives team that uphold the bullets were not designed to ricochet.