PARLIAMENT REOPENS INVESTIGATION INTO MISSING

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 001999 SIPDIS DEPT. FOR EAP, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, DRL, DRL/AWH NSC FOR EPHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2018 TAGS: PGOV KJUS PHUM ID SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT REOPENS INVESTIGATION INTO MISSING ACTIVISTS FROM SUHARTO ERA REF: A. JAKARTA 1761 ¶B. (07) JAKARTA 821 Classified By: Pol/C Joseph L. Novak, reasons 1.4(b+d). ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: A special House of Representatives (DPR) committee has begun an inquiry into the 1997-98 abductions and disappearances of 13 pro-democracy activists. The inquiry could lead to legislation establishing an ad hoc human rights court to try retired generals--some of whom are currently presidential candidates--implicated in the forced disappearances. Families of the victims continue to push strongly on accountability a decade later. While human rights activists remain skeptical that this inquiry will get out of committee, progress in these cases would be a breakthrough in accountability. END SUMMARY. COMMITTEE HOLDS HEARINGS ¶2. (C) The DPR special committee to look into the disappearances was formed in early 2007 but only began conducting hearings in October 2008. The list of suspects and witnesses summoned by the committee is a who's who of the 2009 presidential campaign. The following names cited by the committee are all presidential candidates, for example: -- Former Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, a former general who was commander of the Jakarta Garrison at the time police attacked opposition leader Megawati's political headquarters in 1996 when the first abductions occurred. Sutiyoso is implicated in ordering the attack. -- Prabowo, former Army Special Forces general and now a successful businessman. -- Wiranto (one name only),also a wealthy entrepreneur and former Army general. -- President Yudhoyono, who was vice chair of the Military Ethics Council in 1998 when it investigated the disappearances. He also was deputy commander of the Jakarta Garrison in 1996. Kasim and other human rights leaders said Yudhoyono is not implicated at all in the disappearances, but did hold high positions in the military in the 1990s and might have some perspectives on the matter In addition, Retired Major General Kivlan Zein, chief of staff for the Army Strategic Reserve in 1997-98, is alleged to have recruited a militia of thugs used by Prabowo, among other alleged abuses during his career. ¶3. (C) While such summons are said to be legally enforceable, the DPR has rarely pressed the matter. Indeed, President Yudhoyono, claiming executive privilege, has refused summons in the past. THE BACKGROUND ¶4. (SBU) The DPR effort has a long history. Indonesia's independent Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) in November 2006 concluded its inquiry into the abductions of 23 pro-democracy activists, which occurred mostly between 1997 and 1998. They found preliminary evidence of crimes against humanity and sufficient cause for the Attorney General's Office (AGO) to prosecute. Thirteen of these activists were never found. Komnas HAM had presented its findings to both the AGO and the DPR. Komnas HAM Chair Ifdhal Kasim told DepPol/C that evidence is sufficient to prosecute those who are implicated, even without questioning them directly. ¶5. (SBU) The AGO responded in 2006 that the DPR must first declare the cases to be gross human rights abuses before it could prosecute them before an ad hoc human rights court. When the Human Rights Law was drafted in 2000, a committee of JAKARTA 00001999 002 OF 002 government officials and human rights leaders arrived at a political compromise that the law would apply only to post-1999, democracy-era human rights violations. Like other pre-2000 cases that Komnas HAM has determined to be gross human rights violations, the cases of the missing are stuck in a political and legal void. ¶6. (C) The committee also recommended that the DPR pass legislation determining which pre-2000 cases should be tried retroactively. The DPR subsequently decided that only the 1984 Tanjung Priok massacre of Muslim demonstrators in Jakarta and the East Timor violations would be tried. To resolve the remaining major Suharto-era cases, the DPR established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission--which after years of accomplishing virtually nothing was disbanded by the Constitutional Court in 2006 (Ref B). However, human rights lawyers argue that the abduction cases are unique in that the 13 missing persons are unaccounted for and therefore these are active criminal cases. ACTIONS SAID TO BE CARRIED OUT BY THE "ROSE TEAM" ¶7. (C) The abductions and disappearances of the 13 pro-democracy activists are believed to have been carried out primarily by Army Special Forces--members of a rogue group code-named "Rose Team" (Tim Mawar). These secret detentions actually began as early as July 1996 with the disappearances of several members of then presidential candidate Megawati's party and continued during the May 1998 riots with kidnappings of activists from the Democratic People Party and the Indonesian Students Solidarity for Democracy. ¶8. (C) Pressure by victims and families led to the Army forming the 1998 Council of Military Ethics Office investigation. Lt.Gen. Prabowo Subianto (Suharto's son-in-law and former Army Special Forces Commander) admitted ordering detentions of the nine persons who were released but claimed no knowledge of the disappearances, according to members of the Indonesian of Families of the Disappeared (IKOHI),which was formed to advocate for 1997-98 victims. Prabowo and another implicated general, Special Forces Commander Maj.Gen. Muchdi PR, were relieved from duty because of the investigation. (Note: Muchdi later served as a senior official with the National Intelligence Agency, BIN, and is now on trial for the 2004 murder of human rights activist Munir--Ref A.) ¶9. (C) Eleven lower ranking "Rose Team" officers were convicted in military court in 1998 and given sentences of between 15 and 26 months. Like Prabowo, they admitted only to kidnapping nine activists, pleading ignorance to the fate of the 13 who disappeared. Komnas HAM began looking into the May 1998 cases in 2003, issuing its findings of gross human rights violations in November 2006. The findings implicated some of the persons mentioned above (by position, not by name) plus then President Suharto, Armed Forces Commander (1993-98) Feisal Tanjung, and Armed Forces Commander (1998) Wiranto, WILL THERE BE ACCOUNTABILITY? ¶10. (C) Human rights activists remain cynical that this DPR committee will be able to make real strides toward finding the truth or ensuring accountability. However, the human rights lawyers pushing this matter are dogged in their determination and the media continues to publicize the cases. That said, as in the Munir case, Indonesia has shown surprising political will on human rights matters in recent years. Sutiyoso, Wiranto and particularly Prabowo and their candidacies for president remain particularly vulnerable as the investigation continues. HUME