Thursday, October 23, 2014

Jenderal Ryamizard: Sang Ideolog Pembantaian Warga Sipil

23 Oktober 2014

Salah seorang pendukung kunci Jokowi yang muncul di Istana Negara hari selasa lalu adalah mantan Kepala Staf Angkatan Darat,  Jenderal Ryamizard Ryacudu. 

Ryamizard adalah orang kepercayaan Megawati, pimpinan partai Jokowi. Ryamizard pernah membantu menaikkan Mega ke kursi presiden dengan turut serta menyingkirkan pendahulunya, presiden Gus Dur. 

Satu hal yang paling menonjol dari Ryamizard: di tubuh TNI, dialah sosok terdepan dalam merasionalisasikan pembantaian warga sipil.

Di bulan Oktober 2004, saya menulis laporan terkait pasukan Ryamizard di Aceh:

"Minggu lalu Amnesty International mengeluarkan laporan tentang Aceh yang mencatat bahwa 'pelanggaran hak asasi manusia ... begitu luas sampai-sampai tak satu pun aspek kehidupan di provinsi tersebut yang tak terjamah.'  ... Amnesty berbicara tentang 'eksekusi ekstra-yudisial warga sipil oleh militer' yang terjadi baru-baru ini--jumlahnya ratusan, kata para aktivis setempat secara terpisah--termasuk, menurut Amnesty, 'aksi pembunuhan di luar batas-batas hukum, terhadap perempuan dan anak-anak.'" 

Ketika ditanya tentang salah satu pembantaian—pembantaian terhadap anak-anak di dekat Bireuen, Aceh—Ryamizard menjawab dengan sebuah lelucon tentang pisang goreng dan diam-diam membela aksi tersebut, mengatakan bahwa perempuan dan anak-anak pun bisa membunuh.

Pernyataan itu mungkin terdengar menjijikan, namun belum ada apa-apanya jika dibandingkan dengan penyataan publik—dikutip Antara (8 Desember 2003)--dimana Ryamizard mengatakan bahwa warga sipil sah menjadi sasaran tentara jika mereka "tidak menyukai " kebijakan militer atau menyuarakan “pendapat yang sama” dengan para pemberontak anti-pemerintah.

Ketika membicarakan warga sipil yang tidak senang dengan kondisi Darurat Militer, sesungguhnya Ryamizard mengklarifikasi definisi TNI mengenai apa saja yang bisa membuat seseorang dikategorisasikan sebagai musuh.

Ia menunjukkan bahwa siapapun yang “tidak senang” seperti itu akan didefinisikan oleh TNI sebagai "GAM"--atau anggota Gerakan Aceh Merdeka.

"Orang-orang yang tidak senang dengan darurat militer di Aceh adalah orang GAM," kata Jenderal Ryamizard, "Jadi jika omongannya sama dengan anggota GAM, maka dapat dipastikan mereka  adiknya orang-orang separatis itu."

Kategorisasi ini sangat penting karena secara resmi pendekatan  TNI terhadap GAM adalah "buru dan musnahkan”, seperti yang diambil dari kata-kata Jendral Endriartono pada Mei 2003, dikutip oleh Amnesty International.

Kini operasi militer di Aceh sudah berakhir, namun pembunuhan warga sipil terus terjadi di Papua dan di tempat-tempat lainnya. Sejauh yang bisa diketahui, doktrin Ryamizard masih berlaku.

Jika Jokowi ingin mengakhiri praktek pembunuhan--atau pemenjaraan--terhadap rakyat hanya karena negara tidak menyukai pendapat mereka, sudah sepantasnya ia menyeret jenderal-jenderal seperti Ryamizard ke meja hijau, bukannya malah memberikan jabatan yang lebih tinggi.

Allan Nairn


Untuk laporan Antara yang mengutip pernyataan Ryamizard tentang orang-orang yang tidak suka dengan Darurat Militer, lihat Laksamana.Net, 8 Desember 2003, 8:00am, "Gen. Ryamizard 'With Us or Against Us'" dapat diakses di JoyoNews.org .

Untuk kutipan tentang pisang goreng, dan pembunuhan anak-anak dan perempuan, lihat majalah Time, 2 Juni 2003 , dan artikel saya tanggal 21 Oktober 2014 "Tanda Merah Calon Menteri: Apakah Jokowi Sungguh-Sungguh Membangun Kabinet Bersih?" Versi Bahasa Inggris:  "Red Marks Next to Their Names: Is Jokowi Serious About Being Clean?"



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General Ryamizard: The Ideologist for Killing Civilians

One of the key Jokowi supporters who turned up at the Palace on Tuesday is General Ryamizard Ryacudu, Indonesia's former army chief.

Ryamizard is a confidant of Jokowi's party leader, Megawati, whom he helped to make president by helping oust her predecessor, Gus Dur.

But Ryamizard's most important distinction is that, within the armed forces (TNI), he has been a leader in rationalizing the mass killing of civilans.

In October, 2004 I reported regarding Ryamizard's army in Aceh:

 "Last week Amnesty International released a report on Aceh noting that 'human rights abuses ... are so pervasive that there is virtually no part of life in the province which remains untouched.' … They spoke of recent 'extrajudicial executions of civilians by the military' -- local activists say hundreds of them -- including 'the unlawful killing of women and children.'"  

When Ryamizard was asked about one of those massacres -- of children, near Bireuen, Aceh, he replied with a joke about fried bananas and tacitly defended the action, saying that women and kids could be killers too. 

As revolting as that statement might have been it was actually less significant than another public declaration -- quoted by Antara, the state press agency (December 8, 2003) -- in which Ryamizard said that civilians become legitimate army targets if they "dislike" army policy or have "the same voice" as anti-government rebels.

Ryamizard clarified the army's definition of what makes a person an enemy when speaking of civilians who were unhappy with the state of siege.

He indicated that anyone who had such feelings would be defined by the army as "GAM," i.e. a member of the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka, the Aceh Freedom Movement.

"People who dislike the military emergency in Aceh are GAM members," Gen. Ryamizard said, "So if they have the same voice as GAM members, this will mean that they are the younger brothers of the separatist movement."  

This categorization was hugely significant since the official approach to GAM was: "hunt them down and exterminate them," in the words of the armed forces commander (Gen. Endriartono, May, 2003, quoted by Amnesty).  

Today, the operation in Aceh is over, but killings of civilians continue in Papua and elsewhere, and, as far as one can tell, the Ryamizard doctrine continues in place.

If Jokowi wants to end the practice of killing -- or jailing -- people because the state doesn't like their opinions, he should put generals like Ryamizard on trial, not in higher office


Allan Nairn


For the Antara report quoting Ryamizard on people who dislike the state-of-siege being GAM see Laksamana.Net, December 8, 2003, 8:00am, "Gen. Ryamizard 'With Us or Against Us' Ryacudu," available on JoyoNews.org .

For the fried bananas/ killing-women-and-children quotes see Time magazine, June 2, 2003 , and my October 21, 2014 piece "Red Marks Next to Their Names: Is Jokowi Serious About Being Clean?").




NOTE TO READERS: News and Comment is looking for assistance with translating blog postings into other languages, and also with fund raising and distributing the blog content more widely. Those interested please get in touch via the e-mail link below. NOTE TO READERS RE. TRANSLATION: Portions of News and Comment are now available in Arabic, Brazilian Portuguese, Danish, French, German, Russian and Spanish translation (click preceding links or Profile link above) but translation help is still needed -- particularly with older postings, in these and all other languages. NOTE TO READERS RE. POTENTIAL EVIDENCE: News and Comment is looking for public and private documents and first-hand information that could develop into evidence regarding war crimes or crimes against humanity by officials. Please forward material via the email link below. Email Me