There is alarm at the lack of action taken by the attorney general in prosecuting the perpetrators of the May 1998 riots and the student killings in Trisakti and Semanggi that took the lives of more than 1,000 people with many others suffering serious injuries and damage to their property and possessions. The victims of these abuses have been awaiting justice for more than eights years, which is simply unacceptable for a state that is a member of the U.N. Human Rights Council and a party to a number of U.N. human rights conventions. Because of the lack of effective investigations by the prosecution system into these gross abuses, genuinely concerned independent organisations, such as the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas Ham), have conducted their own independent investigations into these human rights violations and have submitted a formal report of their investigative findings to the attorney general. Time and time again, however, these reports have been dismissed and discarded on the flimsy pretence of legal technicalities. Not only is the Attorney General’s Department guilty of failing to undertake its own investigations into these serious abuses, but it is also guilty of refusing to act on the credible evidence accumulated by independent bodies.
This negligence raises fundamental questions about the role of the attorney general, the senior-most authority of the state prosecution system who is responsible for the impartial investigation and prosecution of perpetrators of human rights abuses and other crimes. Thus, it is the responsibility of the prosecution to ensure that effective investigations are conducted and sufficient evidence is collected to ensure a fair trial. This must be done with the highest level of impartiality and objectivity. The prosecution should not be susceptible to external political pressure and influence.
