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AKARTA: Army Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad) commander Lt. Gen. Pramono Edhie Wibowo is tied for second place on a top rights group’s list of candidates to be the next Indonesian Army chief.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) ranked Pramono — President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s brother-in-law — behind the candidate in first place, Army deputy chief of staff Lt. Gen. Budiman.

Pramono was tied with Army Educational and Training Command chief Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman, according to Kontras’ assessment.

“However, according to our assessment, which used five criteria, none of the seven candidates have shown a strong commitment to human rights or serious concern on military reform,” Kontras coordinator Haris Azhar told the press on Monday.

He said Pramono should not be appointed as the Army’s new chief since he scored lower than Budiman and due to his family ties and poor human rights track record.

Pramono was accused of human rights violations when he led an Army Special Forces (Kopassus) team in Timor Leste in 1999 when more than a thousand civilians were killed during a referendum on independence.

The President must appoint a replacement before outgoing Army chief Gen. George Toisutta retires on June 30. — JP