Markus Junianto Sihaloho – The Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle said on Wednesday it never intended to discredit controversial former special forces commander Prabowo Subianto by initiating the establishment of an ad hoc tribunal to investigate the disappearances of activists during the 1997-1998 unrest.
Speaking in Jakarta, Ganjar Pranowo, a senior member of the party, also known as the PDI-P, said Prabowo, who is the chairman of the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), had not requested the party withdraw its support for a House of Representatives' recommendation to establish the tribunal.
In seeking resolutions to the cases of at least 22 missing activists, Ganjar said the PDI-P's faction in the House had never linked Prabowo, who was commander of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) when the incidents took place, to the disappearances.
"Who can say that Prabowo was the mastermind behind the incidents? Is it not possible that Suharto, with his enormous power, was behind it all?" Ganjar said, adding that the decision to establish the tribunal was based purely on the desire to resolve the cases, and was not motivated by personal reasons.
Prabowo and Wiranto, the former commander of the Armed Forces, have been implicated in human rights violations. Prabowo ran as PDI-P chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri's vice-presidential running mate in the July presidential election. Wiranto was a candidate on a separate ticket.
Following the recommendations of its special committee, the House on Monday voted to recommend that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issue a presidential decree to establish an ad hoc tribunal to try those allegedly involved in the disappearances of the missing activists.
The House also urged the government to form teams to investigate the exact fates of the activists to determine whether they had been killed or were still alive.
Meanwhile, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said on Wednesday it had delivered a letter to the House speaker urging the House to immediately submit its recommendations to the president's office.
"The president must establish the ad hoc tribunal as soon as possible, so the investigation and prosecution can be conducted in the near future," Kontras coordinator Usman Hamid said.
He said the letter also reminded the House to monitor the investigations, adding that government institutions, such as the Attorney General's Office, had in the past not given the cases the priority they deserved.
Attorney General Hendarman Supandji, however, said his office was ready to investigate the abductions. "If there is political support, the president will issue a presidential decree to establish the ad hoc human rights court. Then we will follow it up," he said, as quoted by Kompas.com.
In February 1999, 11 Kopassus soldiers were sentenced to jail or dismissed from service by a military court for their roles in kidnapping activists. Human rights activists, however, say the masterminds behind the disappearances have never been charged.