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Minister rebuked for jumping gun on Cebongan

Human rights activists have criticized Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro for saying the killings of four prison inmates by a group of soldiers in Sleman, Yogyakarta, were not a gross human rights violation

Ina Parlina and Margareth S. Aritonang (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta/Yogyakarta
Sat, April 13, 2013

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Minister rebuked for jumping gun on Cebongan

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uman rights activists have criticized Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro for saying the killings of four prison inmates by a group of soldiers in Sleman, Yogyakarta, were not a gross human rights violation.

Yati Andriyani of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said that Purnomo had no authority to conclude whether or not the raid at Cebongan prison in Sleman by members of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus) violated human rights.

The law stipulates that the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is the sole institution authorized to make that judgment. “The minister seemed to be in a rush to make such a statement. I’m afraid he’s intentionally hindered further investigation into the case,” Yati said.

The minister argued that the establishment of an ad hoc human rights tribunal for the 11 soldiers involved in the attack was unnecessary as the incident did not fulfill the criteria of a gross human rights violation. He said the attack was spontaneous and not systematic, saying that “no order came from the President, a minister or a commander”.

The 2000 Human Rights Courts Law stipulates that perpetrators of gross human rights violations should be brought to a special human rights court.

Komnas HAM said on Friday it was still investigating whether there were indications of gross human rights abuse in Cebongan.

The commission, however, confirmed there were strong indications that a human rights violation took place when the soldiers raided the prison and shot dead the four prison inmates. “The case fulfills the criteria for a human rights violation because the perpetrators took away the right to life, the right to freedom from torture and the right to security of the victims,” Komnas HAM chairwoman Siti Noor Laila said.

The perpetrators could be charged with violating the 1999 law on human rights, she said.

Families of the victims and human rights activists have lambasted the commission for being sluggish in investigating the incident.

“The Sleman attack meets all the criteria for crimes against humanity stipulated in [the Human Rights Court Law], which is a gross human rights violation,” said Yati. “It was carried out against civilians, the perpetrators used weapons owned by the state, and Kontras believes the attack was systematically planned.”

Article 7 of the law outlines two categories of gross human rights violations: genocide and crimes against humanity. Article 9 defines crimes against humanity as crimes, including murder, that are committed as part of a widespread or
systemic attack against civilians.

Director of rights watchdog Imparsial, Poengky Indarti, slammed Purnomo’s lack of understanding on human rights and added it was too early to reach such a conclusion as Komnas HAM had yet to conduct an investigation.

“Komnas HAM should have taken the initiative to carry out such an investigation in order to clarify whether the killings constituted a human rights violation,” she said.

Deputy House of Representatives speaker Priyo Budi Santosa backed Purnomo.

“A rights violation includes systematic and massive mechanisms. Komnas HAM must be fair. The commission has its credibility at stake [with its findings],” he said. (ogi)

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