£GYHWH£G INDONESIA: Judicial failure, military control haunt Indonesia human rights £GYHWH£G
Villianous Indonesia
(Hong Kong, December 9, 2004) Indonesia's human rights protection has been
... Extreme forms of torture and cruelty since the 1965 massacre continue to
be ...
INDONESIA: Judicial failure, military control haunt Indonesia human
rights
PRESS RELEASE
AHRC-PL-108-Indonesia-2004
Judicial failure, military control haunt Indonesia human rights
(Hong Kong, December 9, 2004) Indonesia's human rights protection has
been haunted by a lack of judicial independence and the persistent strong
control of the military over the country, the Asian Human Rights Commission
(AHRC) says.
Extreme forms of torture and cruelty since the 1965 massacre continue
to be perpetrated by the police and security forces up to the present day,
whether in Aceh, Papua or even in Jakarta, as evidenced by the recent
shooting into a crowd of protesters in Bogor, the AHRC says.
Although Indonesia this year has its first directly elected president
and an enactment of a long-awaited unified judicial system that installs the
principle of judicial independence for the first time, it is yet to know how
these changes can help improve the country's governance and human rights.
"Whether or not the new president has the political will to reform the
entire prosecution system so that the rule of law is properly established
the independence accorded to the Supreme Court remains to be seen," the AHRC
says in its digest on Indonesia's rights situation to mark the international
human rights day.
Justice will remain illusory unless reforms to the police, judiciary
and other agencies are also implemented, the Hong Kong-based regional human
rights group notes.
The many entrenched corrupt practices in the legal system, such as
verdict trading and abuse of managerial powers, also need to be addressed
through monitoring and disciplinary agencies, the group says.
The AHRC also expresses concern over the pre-eminent power of the
military in the country, although overt power has been largely transferred
to the national assembly.
The military is still well represented at all levels of policy-making
and implementation. In conflict zones, it is the sole authority, the AHRC
says.
"The continued strength of its grip on all aspects of administration
in Indonesia means that cases of human rights abuse committed in areas of
civil conflict are never properly investigated or brought to the courts,"
the rights group notes.
"The election of an army officer as president does little to assuage
doubts that the military may not be called upon to take a new and equally
powerful role for itself in the future," the group cautions.
Indonesia is one of the countries in Asia that has a bad human rights
record. The overall rights situation in the region remains very bleak with
many places facing the breakdown of the rule of law that makes their people
live in instability and constant fear.
Apart from the failure of its judiciary, Indonesia also sees the
attorney general's office causing delays in justice for thousands of victims
of human rights abuses, the AHRC charges.
It cites that although the National Human Rights Commission of
Indonesia has sought to press state institutions to follow up on its
findings and recommendations, the attorney general's office has so far
refused to even discuss the commission's findings over killings and riots in
May and November of 1998.
The AHRC says the failings in the judiciary and the public prosecution
have spawned impunity not only to the perpetrators of recent abuses, but
also those who involved in the 1965 massacre when more than a million people
were killed and a large number of others being imprisoned.
The recent passage of a law on a truth and reconciliation commission
has caused deep anxiety, for example. Instead of properly addressing the
massive rights violations committed under the previous regime, the
legislation seems intent upon protecting the perpetrators from any
subsequent attempts to hold them legally responsible for their actions, the
AHRC says.
The law stipulates that mutual forgiveness between perpetrator and
victim is a precondition for compensation, restitution and rehabilitation.
"In the event that the perpetrator of the crime is unwilling to be a
party to this charade, the only alternative is for the case to go to an as
yet untested ad hoc human rights court, which may involve considerable time
and expense," the AHRC says.
For more details, please visit the AHRC's Web site at:
<http://www.ahrchk.net> or call (852) 2698-6339
# # #
About AHRC The Asian Human Rights Commission is a regional
non-governmental organisation monitoring and lobbying human rights issues in
Asia. The Hong Kong-based group was founded in 1984.
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