President Abdurrachman Wahid Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, c/o Indonesian Foreign Ministry, Jakarta 24 October 1999 Dear President Abdurrachman Wahid and Vice-President Megawati Sukarnoputri, We congratulate you warmly on your election as Indonesia's President and Vice-President. We welcome this as the beginning of a new era bringing an end to the bleak years of the Suharto military dictatorship. In the spirit of reformasi which we believe should dominate the new Government's programme, we call on you to take the following measures in order to ensure that human rights observance is at the heart of your Government's policy: TAPOL's Human Rights Agenda for the Gus Dur/Megawati Government Release all Political Prisoners Scores of people are still in prison on political charges. They include dozens of people being held in Aceh and West Papua (Irian Jaya) as well as at least twenty people being held in prisons in Java. We draw attention in particular to sixteen East Timorese prisoners held in Semarang prison of whom three have been in prison since 1991. They should be released forthwith and returned home to East Timor under the protection of the International Red Cross. We also demand the immediate release of the six prisoners arrested in 1996 as leaders or activists of the Partai Rakyat Demokratik (PRD) or related mass organisations. Human rights violators must not go unpunished Ever since Suharto seized power in 1965, impunity has protected members of the security forces from due process and punishment for crimes against innocent and defenceless people. Your Government will only be able make a true break with the New Order years if it ends impunity by: 1. Setting up independent commissions of inquiry to investigate grave incidents such as the Tanjung Priok Massacre in September 1984, the Lampung killings in 1987 and the killing of six Trisakti students in May 1998. 2. Revoking Presidential Decree in Lieu of Law enacted in September 1999 to establish a Human Rights Court (which allows exemptions for suspects from the security forces) and replacing it with a law to create a human rights court to try all those responsible for crimes against humanity during the New Order and since. 3. Conducting investigations into the serious human rights abuses in East Timor and bringing those responsible to justice in Indonesian or international courts 4. Co-operating fully with the UN's international commission of inquiry into human rights abuses in East Timor set up under UN Human Rights Commission Resolution adopted on 27 September 1999 and with any subsequent decision by the UN Security Council to set up an ad hoc international criminal tribunal. 5. Initiating comprehensive investigations into the massacres perpetrated in the months following Suharto's seizure of power in 1965 when at least half a million people were slain, with a view to bringing all those responsible, including former President Suharto, to justice. 6. Conducting a thorough investigation into the disappearance of thirteen pro-democracy activists who were abducted in the months prior to Suharto's downfall. The families of the 'disappeared' should be told without delay whether they are alive or dead, and all those responsible should be brought to justice. 7. Conducting investigations into the thousands of human rights abuses perpetrated in Aceh during the period of DOM (military operations region) and all those responsible brought to justice. 8. Conducting investigations into many thousands of human rights abuses perpetrated in West Papua since the territory became Indonesia's 26th province in 1969 following a fraudulent 'act of free choice', with special emphasis on the abuses during the 1990s, and all those responsible brought to justice. Repeal all anti-human rights legislation The Indonesian Criminal Code contains a number of articles which provide for persons to be charged and convicted for political activities. These include the 'hate-sowing' articles and articles which make it an offence to 'insult' the head of state or government officials. They also include six articles which were incorporated into the Criminal Code in April this year when the anti-subversion law was repealed, making it an offence to try to replace the Pancasila or to promote Marxist/Leninist teachings, the effect being that the basis for charging people for their political beliefs under the anti-subversion law has now become part of the Criminal Code. All these articles should be repealed so as to safeguard citizens' right to engage in peaceful political activity without fear of arrest and conviction. The Law on States of Emergency adopted by the previous Parliament but not signed into law by the former President should be scrapped and the 1959 law on states of emergency should be revoked. Dissolution of unconstitutional bodies and reform of the Judiciary During the Suharto era and the Habibie transitional administration, a number of organs having no basis in law or in the Constitution were created, such as Bakorstanas(da) (the National Stability Coordinating Council), and the Dewan Pemantapan Keamanan dan Sistem Hukum (Council to Consolidate Security and the System of Law), both of which are dominated by the military. Such bodies should be dissolved without delay. The Indonesian Judiciary is notorious for corruption and for its deep penetration by the military, as a result of which trials for political activities or corruption are heavily biased against the accused and the verdicts usually fixed in advance. An overhaul of the Judiciary is essential if Indonesia is to become a state based not on political power or bribery but on the rule of law. The Government should take steps to initiate a comprehensive reform of the Judiciary, in the meanwhile ensuring that all persons occupying key positions are beyond reproach and not susceptible to influence by special interests.. End the TNI's role in keeping political control of the population During the 34 years of Suharto's authoritarian rule and the 17 months of the Habibie transitional administration, the Indonesian armed forces (TNI) have maintained a tight grip on the population by means of the army's territorial structure. The TNI now plans to reinforce this structure by increasing the number of regional military commands (kodam), the district military commands (kodim) and lower-echelon commands. The TNI's military intelligence agency BAIS spies on citizens, spreads disinformation, blacklists people from entering or leaving the country on political grounds and exerts a repressive influence on political life through its covert operations. The TNI's territorial structure should be dismantled, BAIS dissolved, and the Indonesian army, navy and air force should confine their activities to defending the state against the threat of external aggression, operating strictly under civilian control. All so-called 'non-organic' troops being deployed in Aceh, West Papua and elsewhere where opposition to central control is intensifying should be withdrawn immediately. The Government should instead embark on a policy of dialogue with representatives of these restive communities. Although the Indonesian Police (POLRI) has been separated from the TNI, it is still under the control of the Defence and Security Minister/Commander-in-chief of the TNI. In order to ensure that Polri functions to protect citizens and not to restrict legitimate social or political protest, the Government should immediately place the force under a civilian authority. Police training should be overhauled, ending the militarist ideology that now dominates. Yours sincerely, Carmel Budiardjo, Director, TAPOL +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TAPOL, the Indonesia Human Rights Campaign 111 Northwood Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey CR7 8HW, UK Phone: 0181 771-2904 Fax: 0181 653-0322 email: tapol@gn.apc.org Internet: www.gn.apc.org/tapol Campaigning to expose human rights violations in Indonesia, East Timor, West Papua and Aceh 26 years - and still going strong ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++