TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - It is so easy for the government to give up on resolving the cases of Trisakti tragedy, Semanggi I, and Semanggi II in 1998.
With the pretext of difficulty of finding proof, facts and witnesses, the Attorney General Office has decided to end the handling of these three cases through legal ways.
The government has chosen to settle this serious human right violation through "reconciliation".
The non-judicial shows that the government is not only not serious but also ignores justice aspects that should have been given to the victims.
At least 33 people were killed - most of whom were university students – in those three cases.
For 18 years, their families have been trying to find out who actually killed their children, brothers, and relatives.
The government has forgotten that choosing the reconciliation way should begin with revealing the truth first.
How can the reconciliation be done through the National Reconciliation Council (DKN) to be established by Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs if it is not clear who is guilty, who the victims are, and the bigger picture of the incident.
What and who will be reconciled if the perpetrators are not found?
Disclosing the serious human right violation cases in the past is a must.
Law number 26 of 200 on the Human Rights Court Ad Hoc regulated by Articles 43 - 44 and Article 6 on expired provision– also has mandated investigation, preliminary investigation and charging the perpetrators of serious human rights violations at the court.
However, instead of disclosing the case, the AGO has never seriously investigated a series of incidents that began with the shooting of Trisakti University students on 12 Mei 1998.
The military court has indeed punished six perpetrators allegedly involved in the shooting.
However, the findings of the Commission of the Investigation of Human Rights Violations in the Trisakti Semanggi I and II cases established by the National Commission for Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on the involvement of 50 soldiers of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) and the Indonesian National Police has never been taken seriously by the AGO.
The AGO reasoned that it was impossible to bring to court the same case twice (the principle of ne bis in idem).
They forget that six people who cannot be tried again were those involved on the ground.
The main actors behind it have never been touched at all.
The result of the investigation done by the Komnas HAM for several years later were also repeatedly returned to the AGO because it is not considered complete.
It is obvious that this institution avoids the case that can drag high-ranking officials at the military and the police.
When Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs and Attorney General M. Prasetyo decided the reconciliation way, the hopes of the victim’s family to find justice has been dashed.
It is clearly impossible to find the truth of the people who should be questioned now will in fact decide their fate today.
Wiranto was the commander of the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) when the May 1998, the Trisakti tragedy, as well as the First Semanggi and the Second Semanggi tragedies broke out.
It would be a shame if this crucial decision contains flaws and even a serious violation of ethics
President Joko Widodo must annul the decision that is harmful for law enforcement.
(*)
