Sydney Morning Herald
August 16, 2001
Megawati bows to pressure on A-G
By Lindsay Murdoch, Herald Correspondent in Jakarta
President Megawati Sukarnoputri has disappointed observers in Jakarta
by
appointing as Attorney-General a low-key prosecutor who failed to pursue
senior military officers over atrocities in East Timor.
The surprise appointment of Mr Muhammad Abdurrachman, better known in
Jakarta
as M.A. Rachman, came after intense lobbying by the main political parties
and the military.
The Attorney-General will determine the outcome of corruption and human
rights cases that former president Abdurrahman Wahid tried but failed
to have
prosecuted.
Mr Rachman served as the executive chairman of a special team formed
last
year to investigate human rights violations in East Timor in 1999. But
the
team failed to recommend the prosecution of high-ranking officers including
the former armed forces chief, General Wiranto, who had been named by
an
independent investigating panel.
Mr Rachman, a career prosecutor in Indonesia's corrupt legal system,
was
deputy attorney-general during the 1998-99 presidency of Dr B.J. Habibie.
"As an insider, Rachman will have a difficult task in cleaning up
the
Attorney-General's office from the bad practices of the past," said
Mr Asmara
Nababan, a member of the state-sponsored Human Rights Commission.
"If the Attorney-General cannot bring the big corruptors to trial,
that will
reflect negatively on Megawati's administration."
The United Nations has warned that it will consider setting up an
international tribunal to hear cases if Jakarta fails to prosecute those
responsible for the military-sponsored violence in East Timor.
General Wiranto, who was touted last month as a candidate for vice-president,
was one of the first people to meet Ms Megawati after she took office
three
weeks ago, indicating she does not favour his prosecution.
A former crusading anti-corruption prosecutor, Mr Antonius Sujata, said
the
Attorney-General needed to be an experienced, independent outsider. Asked
about Mr Rachman's capability, Mr Sujata said: "Nothing special."
But officials in the Attorney- General's office and some human rights
activists said they hoped Mr Rachman's knowledge of the main human rights
and
corruption cases would lead to breakthroughs in having them prosecuted.
One human rights campaigner and lawyer, Mr Abdul Hakim Garuda Nusantara,
said
Mr Rachman was among the best career prosecutors, and called him "modest
and
relatively honest".
Ms Megawati won wide praise last week when she named several respected
technocrats to key economic jobs in her 31-member Cabinet. The currency
rose
to an 11-month high and financial markets were buoyed as a result.
Analysts said the choice of attorney-general was a barometer of the
Government's sincerity in upholding the law, including the eradication
of
corruption and seeking justice in human rights abuses.