T

he National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has launched an investigation into the possible unlawful killings of six alleged terrorists by the National Police'€™s Densus 88 counterterrorism unit during the New Year'€™s Eve raid in Ciputat, South Tangerang.

Komnas HAM chairwoman Siti Nurlaila said on Monday that the commission would soon interview the families of the slain suspects and seek an explanation from National Police chief Gen. Sutarman.

'€œSo far, we have visited the crime scene and collected testimony from a Densus 88 officer who sustained bullet wounds from the raid,'€ said Siti at the National Police headquarters.

'€œLater, we will interview the victims'€™ families and plan a meeting with the police chief,'€ she said.

During her visit to the headquarters, Siti and fellow Komnas HAM commissioners looked at dozens of handguns, pipe bombs, books on jihad and other evidence that the police confiscated during the raid.

Densus 88 engaged in an hours-long gunfight with the suspects, accused of killing three police officers, planting a bomb at a Jakarta vihara and committing armed robberies.

One of the suspects, Nurul Haq, is believed to be a bomb expert who provided financial support for paramilitary training in Poso, Central Sulawesi, led by the country'€™s most-wanted terrorist, Santoso.

According to Komnas HAM commissioner Siane Indirani, the Ciputat raid had the highest number of fatalities among the nationwide raids against suspected terrorists.

Prior to the raid, the authorities had detained more than 700 suspected terrorists and accomplices, and killed more than 65.

Another Komnas HAM commissioner, Nur Kholis, said that the commission would coordinate with the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) in the probe.

'€œKomnas HAM aims to investigate two issues: the alleged human rights violation in the Ciputat raid, and the [suspects'€™] tenets. For the ideological issue, we will work together with the BNPT,'€ he said.

Nur Kholis said that, aside from investigating the raid, the commission would also devise a recommendation in addressing the proliferation of terrorism activities.

He said that Komnas HAM was planning to convey the recommendation report to related ministries and the House of Representatives.

While acknowledging the possible extra-judicial killings in the raid, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) was skeptical that the Komnas HAM investigation would generate significant solutions to deter Densus 88'€™s use of excessive force.

'€œAs has happened in its previous probes, Komnas HAM will only issue recommendations without any serious attempt to force other law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute the alleged perpetrators [of the extra-judicial killings],'€ Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar said.

Shortly after the Ciputat raid, Kontras launched its own investigation and found five irregularities.

According to local residents, which Kontras claims to have interviewed, three months before the raid a number of unknown individuals, believed to be police intelligence officers, had monitored the area.

This has contradicted the police'€™s statement that they had just discovered the suspects'€™ hideout in Ciputat after receiving a tip-off from another suspect, Anton alias Septi, in Central Java on Dec. 31, according to Kontras.

Kontras found that the Densus 88 unit shot a suspect, Hidayat, although he did not resist arrest.

Police spokespersons have claimed that Hidayat tried to attack the police officers.

In response to the allegations, Sutarman underlined that the death of suspected militants was inevitable as they had opened fire on the officers.

'€œThe officers have acted in line with the code of conduct. They did it to protect the public from threats posed by the terrorists,'€ he said on the sidelines of a police rank promotion ceremony on Monday morning.