Indonesia: New Military Chief Needs to Tackle Abuses
| Publisher | Human Rights Watch |
| Publication Date | 13 August 2015 |
| Cite as | Human Rights Watch, Indonesia: New Military Chief Needs to Tackle Abuses, 13 August 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/55d194464.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The Indonesian military should take all necessary and appropriate action to prevent abuses by its personnel and hold human rights violators accountable, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the new Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) chief of staff, Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo. President Joko Widodo named Nurmantyo, the former army chief, to the position on July 8, 2015.
"General Nurmantyo is now the point man for making sure the Indonesian armed forces stop committing abuses and respect human rights," said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director. "It's his responsibility to ensure the military meets its international legal obligations throughout Indonesia."
Nurmantyo should ensure prompt, transparent, and impartial investigations of abuses in which military personnel are implicated, and take appropriate action against personnel responsible.
Nurmantyo should immediately ban so-called virginity tests which are obligatory for female recruits and fiancées of military officers in the Indonesian armed forces, but which violate the prohibition of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under international human rights law. As armed forces commander, Nurmantyo should publicly support Widodo's lifting of access and reporting restrictions on Indonesia-based accredited foreign media to Papua and to ensure that all armed forces in Papua are fully aware of and will respect the rights to media freedom. While Widodo announced a complete lifting of those restrictions on May 10, Nurmantyo's predecessor, General Moeldoko, stated on May 29 that foreign media wishing to visit Papua would still need special official permission.
Indonesian military personnel continue to be implicated in serious human rights abuses, particularly in Papua. Abuses include arbitrary arrests, torture, and unlawful killings of civilians. Nurmantyo should publicly support a joint investigation by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), to ensure that police and rights agency investigators can question military personnel present during the killing of five peaceful protesters in the remote town of Enarotali in Papua, on December 8, 2014. Nurmantyo should also commit to reforming the military tribunal system to allow civilian courts to prosecute military personnel implicated in rights abuses against civilians.
The new military chief should also fully cooperate with government plans to investigate the 1965-66 mass killings of alleged communists and others, as well as other past atrocities, including the Talangsari incident, the Trisakti and Semanggi I and II killings, the abduction of pro-democracy activists in 1997-98, and the May 1998 rioting. Military cooperation is crucial to determining responsibility for these abuses in order to provide justice and redress for the victims and their families.
"General Nurmantyo has the time and opportunity to improve the Indonesian armed forces' respect for human rights," Kine said. "He needs to make clear that discriminatory 'virginity tests,' human rights violations, and tolerance of gross past abuses have no place in today's Indonesian military."
