A leaked document circulating on the Internet detailing the reasons behind the dismissal of presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto from military service on Aug. 21, 1998, has cast doubts on the former general’€™s suitability to serve as president, if elected on July 9.The document, which was a scanned copy of the official letter signed by members of the Indonesian Military’€™s (TNI) Officer’€™s Honorary Council (DKP) tasked with hearing the cases of Prabowo’€™s complicity in the kidnapping of pro-democracy activists in 1998, revealed that the former Army’€™s Special Forces (Kopassus) commander was also fired from his position due to insubordination.Signatories in the document include then Lt. Gen. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the current President; then Army chief of staff Gen. Soebagyo Hadi Siswoyo; Lt. Gen. Fachrul Razi; and Lt. Gen. Agum Gumelar.If the authenticity of the document is verified, it could deal a blow to Prabowo’€™s credibility as a military man and presidential candidate.The document states Prabowo, as Kopassus commander, overstepped his authority by ordering the Mawar and Melati units to ‘€œarrest and detain’€ the activists of the radical People’€™s Democratic Party (PRD).Mawar and Melati are military units under the command of Kopassus, which answer to the commander of the TNI.However, the document reveals the Mawar unit did not act on its own initiative, like Prabowo’€™s campaign team have repeatedly claimed.The document suggests the Mawar unit carried out the kidnappings after Prabowo reassured them that it ‘€œhad been reported’€ and that the operation was based on ‘€œa direct order from on high’€, when in fact a report was never made by Prabowo to then Indonesian Armed Forces (or ABRI, as the TNI was then known) commander Gen. Wiranto.The kidnapping was only reported in April 1998 after pressure from then head of the Armed Forces Intelligence Body (BIA) Maj. Gen. Zacky Anwar Makarim.The document, which was uploaded on the website indonesia-2014.com, is the first document made public that details how Prabowo was dismissed from the military.The document states the DKP not only dismissed Prabowo on charges of human rights violations in relation to the abductions, but also on a number of other actions that demonstrated his insubordination and disregard for the military code.Among the other charges brought against him in the DKP hearing were that Prabowo had carried out or had taken over several operations that were under the authority of the ABRI commander, including the involvement of military forces in East Timor (now Timor Leste) and Aceh; the release of hostages in Wamena in then-Irian Jaya; and Kopassus’€™ involvement in securing president Soeharto’€™s visit to Vancouver, Canada in 1997, shortly before the strongman was ousted from power.In conclusion, the DKP said Prabowo had disgraced and disregarded the military system and committed a criminal offense.In response to the circulating document, the leader of the Prabowo-Hatta Rajasa election campaign team, Mahfud MD, reiterated that Prabowo was honorably discharged from the military.’€œPak Prabowo did receive his marching orders, but take note that he was discharged with respect,’€ Mahfud told reporters at Polonia House in East Jakarta.’€œThere is no problem with this document circulating, I want to emphasize it [the dismissal] was done with respect. It would only be a problem if he were dishonorably discharged,’€ the former Constitutional Court chief justice said. (tjs)

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CNN Indonesia – February 28, 2024

Jakarta — Scores of civil society organisations have expressed their opposition to President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s decision to award Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto with an honorary rank of four-star general.

The Coalition believes that the policy is a transactional electoral political move and that Widodo wants to annul Prabowo’s involvement in past gross human rights violations.

“With regard to this decision, the Civil Society Coalition condemns giving an honorary promotion in rank (HOR) of four-star general to Prabowo Subianto. This is not right, but also injures the feelings of the victims and betrays the 1998 reformasi [process]”, said the groups in a written statement on Wednesday February 28.

The Coalition is making five recommendations. First, that Widodo cancel giving the honorary rank to Prabowo.

Second, that the National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) must seriously investigate the cases of crimes and gross human rights violations committed by Prabowo. Third, the Attorney General must conduct a criminal investigation into and prosecute cases of gross human rights violations in 1997-98.

“The government, in this case the president and his officials, must pursue the DPR’s [House of Representatives] 2009 recommendations, namely forming an ad hoc Human Rights Court, finding the 13 abduction victims that are still missing, rehabilitating and providing compensation to the families of the missing victims and ratifying the Convention Against Enforced Disappearances”, said the Coalition.

Fifth, the TNI-Polri (Indonesian military-Indonesian police) must maintain neutrality and not be involved in political activities.

The opposition to Prabowo’s honorary rank was conveyed by 22 organisations. They are the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Indonesian Human Rights Watch (Imparsial), the Indonesian Association of the Families of Missing Persons (IKOHI), Asia Justice and Rights (AJAR), the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and the Community Legal Aid Institute (LBHM).

Then the Institute for Public Research and Advocacy (ELSAM), the Human Rights Working Group (HRWG), the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), Centra Initiative, the Lokataru Foundation for Human Rights, Amnesty International Indonesia, Public Virtue, the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy and Migrant Care.

The Institute for Ecosoc Rights, Greenpeace Indonesia, the Public Interest Lawyers Network (Pil-NET Indonesia), Kontras Surabaya, the Banten Legal Aid Foundation for Justice (LBH Keadilan), the Institute for Legal Development and Human Rights (LPSHAM) and the Kontras Federation.

President Widodo has denied that awarding Prabowo with an honorary rank of four-star general is a reciprocal move and a form of transactional politics.

“Yeah, if was transactional politics we would have given it to him before the elections”, said Widodo after attending a TNI-Polri leadership meeting in Cilangkap, East Jakarta, on Wednesday February 28.

“This is after the elections, right, so there wouldn’t be any suspicions like that”, he added.

Widodo explained that giving the honorary rank to Prabowo was a proposal from the TNI commander which did not come out of the blue but rather through various processes. (dhf/pmg)

Notes

In 1997-98 as many as 23 pro-democracy activists were abducted by members of the Army’s Special Forces (Kopassus). After extended periods of detention — in many cases the victims were severely tortured — most were released although 13 remain missing and are presumed dead. Former Kopassus commander Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto, who was at the time President Suharto’s son-in-law, has admitted to ordering the abductions but claims they were all released alive and well. He was subsequently dismissed from the military over the abductions but has never been tried in court.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “Ramai-ramai Tolak Pangkat Jenderal Kehormatan Prabowo”.]

Source:

https://www.cnnindonesia.com/nasional/20240228112657-32-1068184/ramai-ramai-tolak-pangkat-jenderal-kehormatan-prabowo

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Indonesia’s president-elect, Prabowo Subianto, has form. As the son-in-law of the former dictator, Suharto, he rose quickly through the ranks of the military to become head of the greatly feared Indonesian special forces, Kopassus. To put it bluntly, in 1983 he was involved in one of the biggest massacres in Indonesian-occupied Timor-Leste, in Kraras in the south of the country. His soldiers killed up to 300 men, women and children in the biggest mass killing in Timor-Leste’s 24-year war with Indonesia. He was also involved in the killing of the first president of Timor-Leste, Nicolau Lobato, whose body was taken by Indonesian forces and never recovered.

Prabowo was finally thrown out of the army in 1998 following the detention and disappearances that year of pro-democracy Indonesian activists in Jakarta, who were protesting against Suharto and calling for his overthrow. Thirteen of the activists disappeared and were never seen again, presumed killed by Kopassus troops who were under his command. Prabowo was given a travel ban to the United States, where he had previously trained in counterinsurgency with US special forces at Fort Benning and Fort Bragg, and to Australia. He has always denied his involvement in kidnapping, torture and killings, and has never been charged in relation to any of the allegations against him and his men.

Prabowo orchestrated the strategy of separating those fighting for independence and the population. In Timor-Leste, Aceh and West Papua, troops under his command carried out countless casual human rights abuses.

Coopting former resistance fighters into his own control was one of the lessons he learnt in America and he put it into effect firstly in Timor-Leste. He created auxiliaries called Hansips and later two notorious Indonesian-led but Timorese-staffed battalions, 744 and 745. Both were among the most brutal towards their own people. They killed civilians, students, nuns, priests and journalists, right up until the final Indonesian withdrawal in 1999. Prabowo orchestrated the strategy of separating those fighting for independence and the population. In Timor-Leste, Aceh and West Papua, troops under his command carried out countless casual human rights abuses.

Some acts, such as the prominent killing of West Papuan leader Chief Theys Eluay in 2001, were blamed on his subordinates, who were given brief and sometimes-ignored convictions and jail terms.

Prabowo rose quickly in the military. By the age of 32, he was a major. He was untouchable and powerful. When I spoke to Indonesian human rights workers, student activists, independence supporters, members of Timor-Leste resistance fighters Falintil in the mountains, or their civilian supporters in Fretilin and CNRT, Prabowo’s name always came up.

I remember talking to Munir, an Indonesian human rights leader who had come to Timor-Leste after the fall of Suharto in May 1998 to document the abuses of the Indonesian military there. In August 1998, he told me about Prabowo’s role in recruiting and organising the Indonesian-led and funded militias that were starting to form back then in Timor-Leste. Munir was later killed by a poisoned cup of orange juice on a Garuda flight to Singapore as he tried to flee Indonesia after reporting on Indonesian military abuses in Aceh. Kopassus was blamed.

In many ways August, September and October in 1998 were extraordinary times in Timor-Leste. The Indonesian military, unsure if it was allowed to shoot demonstrators as it used to under Suharto, stood aside as Timorese students mounted louder and more heavily attended rallies in the capital Dili and in regional centres such as Manatuto and Baucau.

The lid was off and they came in their thousands, chanting, singing and waving pro-independence flags. Apart from the occasional killing, the Indonesian military seemed to tolerate the speeches and calls for independence, but they were always there watching, taking photos and video, identifying those who spoke out. They always had guns and you never knew if that day was the day they would start shooting.

As the protests continued, I joined the students on a trip to Lacluta in the remote south-east of the island. The trip down there felt like a day off – sitting in an open-backed truck. The group sitting on the roof would sing the solo verse and the others the chorus. The villagers couldn’t believe their defiance. We got to Viqueque.

There had been trouble in the area: houses burnt, a few men killed by a new group of Indonesian soldiers. When we arrived for the rally the next day it was mostly the students from Dili and a few old people. Horrible things had happened in this area. On August 8, 1983, Indonesian soldiers from Battalion 501, who later trained in Australia, entered the town of Kraras and began rounding up the men. They killed them all in a group and threw their bodies in a swamp. They killed the children by swinging them against walls or stabbing them with knives. There had been 3000 people living in this village and only about 1300 escaped. The killings in that area went on until September.

Later, when the militia violence was in full swing, I went up into the mountains to interview the Falintil commander Falur Rate Laek. Things had cracked down and it involved lots of planning. There was a long drive and a long mountain walk in monsoonal rain, trying to be quiet to avoid Indonesian military patrols. It was hard and nerve-racking. In this sparse mountain camp of tarps with bush thrown over the top, the guerillas spoke in whispers. I had done this before and knew what to expect. The threat of being captured with them was ever-present. They were taking a risk to speak and I was taking a risk going up there.

Ostensibly I was there to interview Falur Rate Laek about the recent killings in the village of Alas. The Indonesian soldiers and militia had killed at least 50 men the previous November. I had walked there too and been run out of town by armed Indonesians troops and militia, who shot at me and my guide as we scrambled up the muddy hill to get out of that place.

I got Falur’s version of the killings, which his men had witnessed. After endless coffee and cigarettes in the night, our talk turned to Prabowo. I knew Falur had once been in the Indonesian army and had deserted back to Falintil. I asked him why. He told me he had been forced to join the Indonesian military in 1980 and deserted in 1983. He told me it was because of what he had seen in Kraras.

He wanted to talk and, with the rain pelting down on the branch-covered tarp, he spoke in a low voice. He told me he had never talked to a Western journalist about this before.

He told me he was forced to witness the killing of his own people in Kraras in 1983 – when the entire male population, including children, were killed by the Indonesian military. After that, he rejoined the guerillas in the bush. He told me the troops who carried out the killings were under the command of then Captain Prabowo Subianto, who was head of Koppasandha, later to become Kopassus, in the district at the time. Prabowo may not have been there on the day – but it was his men who carried out the killings.

Prabowo is now president-elect of Indonesia. Lieutenant General Falur Rate Laek is now commander of the Timor-Leste Defence Force. 

John Martinkus first wrote for The Saturday Paper in October 2015.

This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on March 2, 2024 as “Chasing Prabowo in Timor-Leste”.