Try Sutrisno Refuses to Cooperate with Priok Investigation (fwd)

["M.G.G. Pillai" <pillai@mgg.pc.my>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: 03 Mar 2000 08:11:59
From: tapol@gn.apc.org
Reply-To: "Conference act.indonesia" <indonesia-act@igc.org>
To: Recipients of indonesia-act <indonesia-act@igc.org>
Subject: Try Sutrisno Refuses to Cooperate with Priok Investigation

From: TAPOL <tapol@gn.apc.org>
Subject: Try Sutrisno Refuses to Cooperate with Priok Investigation

Received from Joyo Indonesian News

Indonesian Observer
March 2, 2000

[This is a gross distortion of what happened. The demonstration which was
shot at resulting in hundreds of deaths followed a series of blatant
provocations by local troops who entered a mosque - without removing their
boots - and started tearing down posters complaining about the difficulties
being faced by Muslims, Four mosque officials were later arrested and the
demonstration on 12 September 1984 took place to demand their release. This
was at a time when the Suharto regime was pushing for Pancasila to be
adopted by all organisations as their sole principle, a move that was
strongly resisted by many Muslims. For a full account of what happened, see
'Indonesia: Muslims on Trial', published by TAPOL in April 1987. (Copies
are still available for £3.50 plus postage.) The group known as Petisi 50
headed by Ali Sadikin issued a White Paper about the events which was never
made public in the Indonesian media. TAPOL]


Try won’t cooperate with Tanjung Priok investigation

JAKARTA (IO) — Former military chief Try Sutrisno says he will refuse to 
cooperate with a newly established team which is investigating the Tanjung 
Priok massacre of 1984, in which about 400 Muslim protesters were gunned down 
by soldiers.

Try, who was Jakarta Military commander when the massacre occurred, yesterday 
said the team has no right to question anyone because it is not from 
parliament.

"Let them establish any team to investigate anything. I will have nothing to 
do with that team or any part of it," Try told reporters on the sidelines of 
a military function here.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on Tuesday established 
the Commission of Inquiry into Human Rights Abuses at Tanjung Priok (KPP HAM 
Priok).

The team will attempt to reveal the full story of the killings that took 
place on September 12, 1984, at Tanjung Priok in North Jakarta.

Muslim protesters had gathered in the area on that day to protest against the 
"unfair" policies of the bureaucracy and military under then-president 
Soeharto. 

Witnesses said they were slaughtered and the bodies were then taken away in 
trucks and buried.

The military always claimed it had shot only a few people in self defense to 
prevent Muslim extremists from rioting.

Some human rights activists believe the massacre was masterminded by Try and 
former Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI) commander General (ret.) Benny Moerdani.

Try, who was vice president from 1993 until early 1998, admitted that ABRI 
was the institution which "dealt with" Tanjung Priok incident, but said he 
was not personally involved. 

He claimed the killings took place after clashes between soldiers and an 
angry mob.

"They had just attended a recital of the Al-Qur’an. The preaching was meddled 
in by means of indoctrination from a few extremists who were influenced by 
the speeches of Amir Biki," he said. Biki was among those killed during the 
massacre.

"The clash occurred when they met military troops who tried to prevent them 
from further vandalizing national assets," said Try.

He implied the Muslim mob may have attempted to damage "military and police 
precinct posts" and an oil reservoir owned by state oil company Pertamina.

Try also said the group had tried to release prisoners from a local jail.

"You figure out whether that was good or not. If they were supporting a good 
cause, they should have held a dialog or conducted a daylight demonstration. 
Anyway, they were carrying machetes and clubs," he said.

"We tried to persuade them to hold a nice and ethical dialog, but they 
refused. Now, who had to suffer losses? The people, of course. It cost [the 
lives of] our own people." 

Try warned KPP HAM Priok that if it really wants to uphold human rights, the 
commission should abide by the principle of the presumption of innocence. 

"Ultimately, they shouldn’t become human rights violators while resolving 
human rights cases," he asserted.

Try reiterated that the Tanjung Priok case is purely an institutional 
problem, not a problem for which certain people can be held accountable.

"If they want to ask for my explanation, it has to be done through the 
[military] institution. They can’t just point the finger at me. We were just 
obeying orders," he said.

Try said only the House of Representatives has the right to summon civilians 
for questioning. 

"It [the House] also has its own regulations and ethics," he added.



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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 
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