http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/rights-agency-calls-for-poso-probe/566270
Rights Agency Calls for Poso Probe Farouk Arnaz | January 19, 2013 The new national human rights chief has vowed to work closely with police to address concerns about excessive use of force during ongoing counterterrorism raids in the Central Sulawesi district of Poso. Otto Nur Abdullah, who was appointed chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in November, met with National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo on Friday to discuss the matter. “We want to adopt a preventive attitude to avoid [rights abuses],” he said after the two-hour meeting. “If we were to wait until after an alleged abuse took place and tried to address it then, it would be difficult. That’s why we want to work alongside the police, to keep up with how their approach to the Poso issue evolves.” Ties between the police and Komnas HAM flared up recently over Poso, where officers are conducting a manhunt to root out the leaders of a terrorist training camp responsible for a spate of attacks across the country. The rights commission has questioned the police’s heavy-handed tactics in hunting down suspected terrorists, which have led to the shooting deaths of several suspects. The police have denied the accusation and lashed out at Komnas HAM for its “groundless claim.” Otto said his meeting on Friday with Timur was intended to smooth over the friction and work more closely with the police to minimize the potential for rights abuses in their ongoing operations in Poso and surrounding areas. Separately, Timur welcomed Otto’s gesture, saying the police force was not reluctant to be held accountable for its actions. Insp. Gen. Suhardi Alius, a National Police spokesman, said the police chief had also emphasized to the rights commission the problems faced by officers on the ground when going after armed and dangerous terror suspects. “If indeed there’s a violation of human rights [during police raids], we’ll come out and we’ll talk about it,” he said. “We always double-check on everything. We’ve even sent an internal affairs team to Poso.” Poso is widely considered the nerve center of the country’s terrorist underground, revolving around a militant training camp with traceable links to regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah and Al Qaeda. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
