Item 3: Administration Justice

Working Group on Military Tribunal in East Timor/Indonesia

Thank you Mr. Chairman,

Pax Romana would like to congratulate the report prepared by Mr. Louis Joinet on the issue of Military Tribunal. This issue has become a central issue in many countries, especially in countries where the role of military is exceeding its capacity to guarantee the national security.

I would like to draw your attention to case of Indonesia, where the military, instead of protecting the security of its citizens, it often violates their rights. We still remember it very well, the case of East Timor, where the Indonesian military was involved in the occupation of this nation and participated in the violence as East Timor voted for their independence. Other abuses by the military include the massacre of the Muslim protesters in Tanjung Priok in Jakarta in 1984, the disappearances of NGO and student activists in 1997 and 1998, and the shootings of the students during the peace demonstration in 1998. The actions of the military in Aceh, Moluccas and West Papua are clear examples of the excessive using of the military power to the people.

Nevertheless, there is no significant tribunal conducted to prosecute the military leaders and the security forces. The tribunals that do exist are only for the low ranking security personnel, with no adequate tribunal for their commanding officers. As a result, these tribunals do not touch the real problem. The Indonesian government fails to bring the military commanders who are the masterminds of those crimes against human rights. This creates a culture of impunity for those military commanders.

Therefore, Pax Romana calls upon the working group of the Sub-commission to continue its study on military tribunals with particular interest to Indonesia.

Thank you Mr. Chairperson.