[ETAN-key] Lead Candidate for Indonesia Army Chief Tied to Violence in Timor: Rights Group

[ETAN]

Lead Candidate for Army Chief May Be Tied to Violence in Timor: Rights Group

Nurfika Osman | June 13, 2011


A prominent human rights group has raised 
questions about the checkered record of the 
leading candidate for the post of Army chief of staff.

Al Araf, program director at the nongovernmental 
group Imparsial, said on Sunday that Lt. Gen. 
Pramono Edhie Wibowo, one of three men being 
considered to replace Army chief Gen. George 
Toisutta, may have been involved in rights abuses 
following the East Timor independence referendum in 1999.

“The next chief of staff should be someone who is 
committed to reforming the armed forces,” Al Araf 
said. “We all know the Army was involved in past human rights violations.”

Pramono, he went on, was suspected of being 
involved in an attack on the Dili home of Bishop 
Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo, a Nobel peace 
laureate who had long campaigned for an end to 
the military’s aggression in East Timor.

“Therefore, we urge Komnas HAM [the National 
Commission on Human Rights], the KPK [Corruption 
Eradication Commission], the Indonesian Ombudsman 
and the House of Representatives to scrutinize 
the track record of candidate Pramono Edhie Wibowo,” Al Araf said.

The results of such a probe should then be 
submitted to the president and to the Indonesian 
Military’s council for officers’ rotation, he added.

Ridha Saleh, deputy chairman of Komnas HAM, said 
the rights body would examine the track record of 
each of the three candidates for Army chief.

“We’ve signed a memorandum of understanding with 
the Army, which will be the basis for us to 
inspect the candidates closely before a final decision,” he said.

“First, we’re going to have a meeting about when 
we can examine their track records. After that, 
we’ll have to analyze everything objectively ­ 
from their personal behavior and career, to their 
possible involvement in human rights violations.”

Pramono’s candidacy has also come under scrutiny 
because he is the younger brother of the first 
lady, Ani Yudhoyono ­ which critics contend could 
see him become appointed Army chief through nepotism.

Poengky Indarti, executive director Imparsial, 
said it was important that Pramono be judged on 
merit rather than on family ties. She said the 
culture of nepotism had long been entrenched in 
Indonesia’s military system, but this needed to change.

Under former President Suharto’s New Order 
regime, Poengky said, the military career of 
Prabowo Subianto, who would go on to establish 
the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) in 
2009, was significantly improved after he was 
married to Titiek, one of Suharto’s daughters.

“This culture needs to be erased, starting from 
the bottom up,” she said. The candidate, she 
added, should be willing to commit to the values 
of democracy and good governance.

Separately, military spokesman Rear Admiral 
Iskandar Sitompul said there would be no 
favoritism in Pramono’s case, saying all three 
candidates stood the same chance of becoming the next Army chief.

In addition to Pramono, head of the Army’s 
Strategic Reserve Command (Kostrad), the other 
candidates are Lt. Gen. Budiman, Army deputy 
chief of staff; and Lt. Gen. Marciano Norman, 
commander of the Army Education and Training Center (Kodiklat).