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GENERAL APPEAL (Indonesia): Continued Impunity ensured by the apathy of the Attorney General

December 5, 2006

URGENT APPEAL GENERAL URGENT APPEAL GENERAL URGENT APPEAL GENERAL

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - GENERAL APPEALS PROGRAM

General Appeal

5 December 2006
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UG-024-2006: INDONESIA: Continued Impunity ensured by the apathy of the Attorney General

INDONESIA: Forced disappearances; Attorney General's reluctance to prosecute in cases of gross human rights violations
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information from the Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (Kontras) regarding the recent developments in the yet unsolved case of the disappearances of 14 students and activists over the period of 1998 and 1999 across several undisclosed locations in Indonesia: the "handiwork" of the then President Soeharto's New Order Government.

We have also been informed of the recent publication of an investigative report by the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas Ham) in which the Attorney General has been urged to fulfill his most basic duties, in the filing of formal charges against the alleged perpetrators of the abductions of 1998 and 1999.

Furthermore, Komnas Ham has in its report clearly classified these abductions and a number of others as gross Human Rights violations, as defined under law No. 26 of 2000. The reluctance on the part of the Attorney General to press for the recommendation of these cases to be prosecuted before an Ad Hoc Human Rights Court, and in conducting further investigations, has perplexed many in Indonesia and the international community.

Article 20 of Law 26 of 2000 stipulates:

1. Should the National Commission on Human Rights consider there is sufficient
preliminary evidence that a gross violation of human rights has occurred, a summary of the findings of the inquiry shall be submitted to the investigator.
2. No later than 7 (seven) working days following the submission of the summary findings of inquiry, the National Commission on Human Rights shall submit the inquiry findings in full to the investigator.
3. In the event that the investigator considers the inquiry findings referred to in clause (2) insufficient, the inquirer shall immediately re-submit the inquiry findings to the investigator accompanied by guidelines for their completion, and within 30 (days) of receiving the inquiry findings, the investigator is required to consummate these insufficiencies.

The relevance of the issues raised above must be seen in the context of two major issues: the tradition of impunity currently enjoyed by the perpetrators of human rights violations in Indonesia, and the denial of justice to the victims thereby undermining public faith in the Justice system as a whole.

Kidnappings and brutal assassinations became the signature style of Soeharto's New Order Regime, and has become somewhat of an institutional practice of Indonesian Government and governance since then. In the lead-up to the 1996 general elections, several key members of the Indonesian Democratic Party Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) were abducted and were never heard from again. Then again, during the May Riots of 1998, several key activist members of the Democratic People's Party and the Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy were abducted. It is common knowledge that the military were largely responsible for this series of politically-motivated abductions.

The mass protest of the public masses against these kidnappings was successful in ensuring the release of eight young activist students; however, 14 democracy activists are still unaccounted for. Their names are; Suyat, Yani Afri, Sonny, M. Yusuf, Noval Alkatiri, Dedy Hamdun, Ismail, Bimo Petrus, Abdun Naser, Hendra Hambali, Ucok Siahaan, Yadin Muhidin and Wiji Thukul.

In late 1998, the military court tried and prosecuted 11 officers of the Mawar Specialist Unit of the Kopasus Armed Forces, who publicly admitted their guilt and part played in the abduction of 9 of the 14 activists. They were sentenced to 15-26 months imprisonment, and were forced to resign from the TNI State Army.

In 1999, the bereaved families of the abduction victims submitted a joint lawsuit to the East Jakarta State Court, in which they demanded that the Commander of the TNI State Army be held accountable for the abductions. In early 2005, Komnas Ham conducted an official review of the student-abductions of 1998, and appointed an investigative outfit to make more detailed and in-depth investigative enquiries. However their efforts to investigative Military Generals and the Kapasus Specialist Forces believed to have orchestrated the abductions, as well as the suspected sites of detainment and torture of the victims, were blocked at every stage.

KOMNAS HAM submitted an official report of their investigative findings to the Attorney General, the Supreme Court and the Indonesian Parliament on 8 November 2006. In their report, KOMNAS HAM implicated 27 officers of the TNI State Army, National Police (Polri) and State Intelligentsia (BIN).

Unfortunately, the Attorney General has taken no action in pursuing the matter further, and in pressing for a prosecutory trial. Such behaviour defeats the purpose, and undermines the integrity of the prosecution system. In the case of clear human rights violations on the part of the State, it is the fundamental responsibility of the Attorney General to conduct further investigations in the event that further evidence is required, to request the House of Representatives to authorize the filing of the case(s) with the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court, and to oversee the provision of adequate redress to the victims and/or their families.

The inactivity of the Attorney General in this matter has been roundly and publicly condemned by the House Commission III on Human Rights, as well as Komnas Ham themselves. Said Komnas Ham Official Enny Suprapto; "In spite of the significant evidence that we have found, the Attorney General's Office refused to carry out its own investigation. It has refused to seek testimony from experts or look for new evidence at locations considered to be places where the activists were allegedly held captive".

The gross human rights violations committed both by the Military and the Police in the murder of over 35 young students in Trisakti and Semanggi in 1998 and 1999 have also suffered a similar fate (See our previous appeals: UA-23-2002; UP-81-2005, UP-102-2005).

Given the gravity of the crime committed, the prolonged stagnation of justice for the victims of gross human rights violations paints a very negative picture of the Indonesian State; particularly of its Prosecution system. It is a sad fact that justice remains a dingy prospect for many Indonesians.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write to the Attorney General of Indonesia, expressing your grave concern over the inexcusable delay of justice for the then Government-authorized abductions of the 14 said activist students in 1998 and 1999.

Sample letter:

Dear Attorney General,

INDONESIA: Justice long overdue for the student abductions of 1998

Name of victims:
1) Suyat, 2) Yani Afri, 3) Sonny, 4) M. Yusuf, 5) Noval Alkatiri, 6) Dedy Hamdun, 7) Ismail, 8) Bimo Petrus, 9) Abdun Naser, 10) Hendra Hambali, 11) Ucok Siahaan, 12) Yadin Muhidin, 13) Wiji Thukul, 14) Herman Hendrawan
(All the victims are student activists who had been allegedly kidnapped by the security personnel)
Alleged perpetrators: 27 officers of the TNI state army, State Intelligence (BIN) and National Police (Polri)
Date of incident: 1998-1999
Place of incident: Several locations

I am writing to voice my deep concern regarding the reluctance on the part of the Attorney General in the yet unsolved case of the abductions of 14 student activists by security personnel of the New Order Regime led by the then President Soeharto over the period of 1998-99 across several unspecified locations in Indonesia.

Kidnappings and brutal assassinations became the signature style of the New Order Regime, and have become somewhat of an institutional practice of Indonesian Government and governance since then. During the May Riots of 1998, several key activist members of the Democratic People's Party and the Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy were abducted. It is common knowledge that the Military were largely responsible for this series of politically-motivated abductions.

The mass protest of the public masses against these kidnappings was successful in ensuring the release of eight activists and students; however, 14 activists mentioned above are still unaccounted for. 

In early 2005, the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas Ham) conducted an official review of the abductions of 1998/99, and made more detailed and in-depth investigative enquiries. However, their efforts to investigative military generals and officers of the Kapasus Specialist Forces believed to have orchestrated the abductions, as well as the suspected sites of detainment and torture of the victims, were blocked at every stage.

Komnas Ham submitted an official report of their investigative findings to the Attorney General, the Supreme Court and the Indonesian Parliament on 8 November 2006. In their report, Komnas Ham implicated 27 officers of the TNI State Army, National Police (Polri) and State Intelligentsia (BIN).

Unfortunately, till date the Attorney General has taken no action in pursuing the matter further, and in pressing for a prosecutory trial. Such behaviour defeats the purpose, and undermines the integrity of the prosecution system. In the case of clear human rights violations on the part of the State, it is the fundamental responsibility of the Attorney General to conduct further investigations in the event that further evidence is required, to request the House of Representatives to authorize the filing of the case(s) with the Ad Hoc Human Rights Court, and to oversee the provision of adequate redress to the victims and/or their families.

The gross human rights violations committed both by the military and the police in the murder of over 35 young students in Trisakti and Semanggi in 1998 and 1999 have also suffered a similar fate.

I am deeply disturbed to learn of the Indonesian Government's evident lack of interest in this matter. The Indonesia is bound by the obligations of their membership to the UN Human Rights Council to oversee the fulfillment and protection of those rights for its citizens, and more importantly, to ensure the right to redress for those of its citizens whose rights have been violated. That an official investigation has yet to be authorized by the Attorney General eight years after the incident, despite the insurmountable evidence accumulated by the Komnas Ham in that time, is both unacceptable and inexcusable.

Therefore, I strongly urge you to ensure the gross human rights violations committed by the Indonesian state military as implicated by Komnas Ham be tried before an Ad Hoc human rights court for their involvement in and orchestration of the abduction and probably torture of these listed missing persons. In addition, it is the responsibility of the Attorney General to prosecute those officers within the military who attempted to block the due investigative procedure by denying KOMNAS HAM's independent investigative outfit access to suspected sites of detention and torture of the victims.

The abduction of citizens on the basis of their exercising their fundamental democratic right to freedom of expression is a gross violation of human rights, and must be stopped. It is therefore imperative that you together with Attorney General take immediate steps in ensuring that all such cases of abductions are subject to proper investigation, and prosecution.

Yours sincerely,


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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER TO:

1.Mr. Abdul Rahman Saleh
Attorney General
Kejaksaan Agung RI
Jl. Sultan Hasanuddin No. 1
Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 7221337, 7397602
Fax: + 62 21 7250213

PLEASE SEND A COPY OF YOUR LETTER TO:

1. Mr. Susilo Bambang Yudoyono
President
Republic of Indonesia
Presidential Palace
Jl. Medan Merdeka Utara
Jakarta Pusat 10010
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 3845627 ext 1003
Fax: + 62 21 231 41 38, 345 2685, 345 7782

2. Mr. Agung Laksono
Chief of the Indonesian House of Representative
Gedung DPR/MPR RI
Jl. Gatot Subroto No. 6
Jakarta
INDONESIA
Tel: + 62 21 5715509; 5715344; 5715621
Fax: + 62 21 5714469, 5734389

3. Mr. Hamid Awaluddin
Minister of Justice and Human Rights
Uahi Utoyo Usman S.H.,
Menteri Kehkiman,
JI. H.R. Rosuna Said Kav. 6-7
Kuningan, Jakarta Selatan
INDONESIA
Fax: +62 21 525 3095

4. Mr. Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara
Chairperson
KOMNAS HAM
Jl. Latuharhary No. 4B Menteng
Jakarta Pusat 10310
INDONESIA
Tel: +62 21 3925230
Fax: +62 21 3151042/3925227 

5. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders
Att: Melinda Ching Simon
Room 1-040
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS)


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ahrchk@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal General
Document ID :
UG-024-2006
Countries :
Issues :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.