Weekly Update Human Rights in Indonesia – 23-06-2014 Impunity
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Weekly Update Human Rights in Indonesia – 23-06-2014 Elections 2014 Impunity Wiranto Sets Record Straight on Prabowo’s Military Kivlan: May 1998 Riots Orchestrated in Senayan Discharge Tempo Interactif 19-06-2014 The Jakarta Globe, 19-06-2014 Former Chief of Staff of the Army’s Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) Maj. Indonesia’s last military commander under the strongman Suharto has confirmed Gen. (ret) Kivlan Zen has revealed that the May 1998 riots in the capital was that presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto, a top Army general at the time, controlled from Bogor, West Java, by a special team that was established in an was indeed discharged from the force for ordering the abduction of pro- area in Bogor. democracy activists in 1997 and 1998. Kivlan, a national debater of the Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa presidential Retired general Wiranto said in a televised press conference on Thursday that ticket’s campaign team, said the riots were orchestrated in an area around Prabowo’s dismissal was no secret, and denied that the recently leaked letter of Senayan, Jakarta, in February-March 1998 to oust then President Soeharto. “They dismissal was confidential. “There were no instructions from military leaders at controlled them (the riots) from Bogor via telephone,” he said on Wednesday. that time” to kidnap the activists whose protests would eventually lead to Suharto resigning, Wiranto said. “I did ask Prabowo about the kidnappings, and I Kivlan admitted to knowing the masterminds of the riots but refused to reveal believe it [the kidnappings] was done on his own initiative,” he added. them. “If I do that, I will disgrace this nation,” he said. Wiranto said that because the incident involved civilians, it was a case that was in According to Kivlan, there was an officer who left the capital in 1998. At the same the public interest, and therefore the circumstances of Prabowo’s dismissal time, Prabowo was in Jakarta to take security precautions. should be public knowledge. In his book titled Konflik dan Integrasi TNI AD (Conflicts and Integration within “I don’t consider the dissemination of the letter as a leak. The document is not The Army), Kievlan mentions the involvement of then commander of the Armed confidential because the victims were civilians,” Wiranto said. Forces Gen. Wiranto in the establishment of the civilian security task forces known as Pam Swakarsa. This Amnesty International Netherlands clipping service is made for Amnesty members and others interested in the human rights developments in Indonesia – for information only – not to be quoted as Amnesty information. For more information or to be included in or deleted from the mailing list, write to [email protected]. For back issues view http://www.marthameijer.org/page36.php 1 Weekly Update Human Rights in Indonesia – 23-06-2014 The abductions took place between December 1997 and March 1998. An They have also criticized the leak of the letter, with some calling its authenticity investigation was launched in March, and Prabowo was subsequently hauled into question. But Wiranto said it should be very easy to verify the authenticity. before a military tribunal overseen by Wiranto. “Authenticating the letter is important because this concerns the credibility of a “From the investigation until the dismissal I regularly gave updates to public,” presidential candidate,” he said. “We can do that easily because most people Wiranto said. “[In 1998] I issued a public apology because some of my men had mentioned in the letter are still alive.” committed ethical, procedural and legal violations, and I promised that they would be punished.” Besides Wiranto, another top military general who served on the tribunal and whose signature appears on the letter ordering Prabowo’s dismissal was one However, Wiranto declined to say whether Prabowo had received an honorable Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono… or a dishonorable discharge. “I don’t want to be caught up in the semantics,” he said. “The debate about the terminology is no longer relevant.” Kompas reports on 20 June that the Prabowo team has lodged a complaint against former general Wiranto for black campaigning. But he hinted that Prabowo had been dishonorably discharged, saying that serving personnel only received an honorable discharge if they retired or if they The 3rd presidential debate suffered from chronic illness or sustained permanent disabilities. The |Jakarta Post, 23-06-2014 “But there are soldiers who are fired dishonorably because they have violated Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle’s (PDI-P) presidential candidate Joko [the soldier’s pledge] and the Constitution,” he said. “Jokowi” Widodo gave an impressive performance during the third televised Wiranto added that the letter issued by the 1998 military tribunal, or DKP, clearly debate organized by the General Elections Commission (KPU) on international stated that Prabowo had been dismissed. affairs and defense issues, two subjects considered strong suits for his rival, Gerindra Party’s Prabowo Subianto. Wiranto, the founder and chairman of the People’s Conscience Party, or Hanura, has endorsed Joko Widodo, Prabowo’s rival, for the July 9 presidential election. Early in the debate, Jokowi showed off his wonkish understanding of foreign affairs by outlining several priorities in his overseeing of foreign policy, if elected Prabowo’s supporters have long tried to play down his dismissal from the president. military, calling it a past incident that has no bearing on his suitability as a presidential candidate. This Amnesty International Netherlands clipping service is made for Amnesty members and others interested in the human rights developments in Indonesia – for information only – not to be quoted as Amnesty information. For more information or to be included in or deleted from the mailing list, write to [email protected]. For back issues view http://www.marthameijer.org/page36.php 2 Weekly Update Human Rights in Indonesia – 23-06-2014 Black campaigning Faisal could only submit the transcript of the recording, but failed to give the recording. The KPK has denied that the transcript was leaked from its office. The Jakarta Globe, 19-06-2014 Attorney General Basrief Arief filed a lawsuit on slander against news portal Corruption in State Institutions Inilah.com, which reported an alleged conspiracy between the attorney general and Megawati Soekarnoputri, the chairwoman of the Indonesian Democratic Corruption in the Ministry of Health Party of Struggle, or PDI-P, in the TransJakarta corruption case. The Jakarta Globe, 19-06-2014 Basrief also reported to the National Police a fake letter containing the transcript of an alleged conversation between Basrief and Megawati that Faisal Assegaf, The National Police’s corruption division detained a Health Ministry official, after chairman of nongovernmental organization Progress 98, claimed he received being named a suspect for two years, over alleged graft in the development of from a source at the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). avian flu vaccine. “We officially detained T.P.S. for 20 days since June 16,” National Police corruption division head Sr. Comr. Andi Heru Santo said on “I hope this online news can be investigated according to the existing law, as this Thursday. He was referring to T.P.S., or Tunggul P. Sihombing, the ministry’s slander was brought about in this political condition,” Basrief said. former director general for disease control. Inilah.com was the first media that put up news about an alleged conspiracy Tunggul — who was charged with corruption and money laundering — had just without getting confirmation from the other side. It reported that Megawati been taken into custody, Andi said, because the police had just received audit lobbied Basrief so that presidential candidate Joko Widodo would not be taken results from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) in 2014 about the potential state into legal proceedings related to allegation of corruption to the TransJakarta bus loss of Rp 770 billion ($64 million) from the project. procurement project worth Rp 1.5 trillion ($125 million). “We’ve just got enough evidence in 2014,” Andi said. “He did not meet the Basrief said that the transcript was fictitious. He said that the Attorney General summons and he instead sent his lawyer, claiming that he was sick but without a Office had not found any connection between Joko and the corruption case doctor’s note when we were about to question him. When he was arrested, he which saw former Jakarta Transportation Agency Udar Pristono as a suspect. was not ill and was fishing in Bogor.” “The current [legal] process has not been linked to Jokowi, as we, law enforcers, work based on the law, referring to the investigation report,” Basrief said. He called Joko by his nickname Jokowi. This Amnesty International Netherlands clipping service is made for Amnesty members and others interested in the human rights developments in Indonesia – for information only – not to be quoted as Amnesty information. For more information or to be included in or deleted from the mailing list, write to [email protected]. For back issues view http://www.marthameijer.org/page36.php 3 Weekly Update Human Rights in Indonesia – 23-06-2014 Son of Minister of Cooperatives detained for corruption Corruption in the Ministry of Transportation The Jakarta Globe, 19-06-2014 The Jakarta Globe, 19-06-2014 Jakarta’s prosecutor office on Thursday arrested the son of Syarief Hasan, who is An official from the Directorate General of Railways at the Ministry of the minister of cooperatives and small and medium enterprises, for alleged Transportation is allegedly involved in a graft case, which reportedly saw a corruption of his supposed involvement in the procurement of video monitors, Japanese transportation firm pay kickbacks for a railway project worth trillions of which was a project of his father’s ministry. rupiah.