By Ucha – January 8th, 2022
Jakarta, Gatra.com – Imparsial's Director, Gufron Mabruri, said that the appointment of Major General Untung Budiharto, a former member of the Mawar Team, to be the Regional Commander for Jaya to replace Maj. Gen. Mulyo Aji shows that respect for human rights has not been considered important in the development of the TNI.
This is assessed by Gufron, departing from the background of Major General Untung as a former member of the Mawar Team who was involved in carrying out the forced disappearances (kidnappings) of pro-democracy activists that occurred in 1997–1998 and became a black record on human rights issues involving the military.
"This of course has disturbed the public's sense of justice, especially victims and families of abducted victims, who even until now, some have not returned and whose fate is unknown," said Gufron in a statement received by Gatra, Saturday (8/1).
According to Gufron, when strategic positions in the TNI and the Ministry of Defense are occupied by people who have a bad record in the context of human rights, this becomes a major obstacle for the TNI and the Ministry of Defense itself to respect human rights principles.
"The TNI commander should listen to public input and use various public records and human rights institutions such as the National Human Rights Commission to examine the track records of its members to occupy certain strategic positions or positions," he explained.
On the basis of the foregoing, Gufron said that his party urges President Joko Widodo to review all decisions on the appointment of said former member of the Mawar Team in strategic positions/positions both in the TNI and at the Ministry of Defense.
In addition, the president also needs to immediately resolve cases of past gross human rights violations through an ad-hoc human rights court mechanism.
On the other hand, the TNI Commander, General Andika Perkasa, was also asked to evaluate and not place soldiers with bad records in cases of gross human rights violations.
"Especially the former members of the Mawar Team, in strategic positions or positions in the TNI or in institutions that allow active TNI soldiers to be occupied," he said. Regarding this, Gatra.com is still trying to confirm the related parties.
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