INDONESIA EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Indonesia is a multiparty ...

e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
INDONESIA 9
The law provides for an independent judiciary; however, in practice the judiciary
remained susceptible to influence from outside parties, including business interests,
politicians, and the security forces. Low salaries and poor oversight continued to
encourage acceptance of bribes, and judges were subject to pressure from
government authorities and other groups, which appeared to influence the outcome
of cases.
Widespread corruption throughout the legal system continued (see section 4);
specialized task forces in the AGO attempted to prosecute such corruption.
At times, authorities did not respect court orders, and decentralization created
additional difficulties for the enforcement of these orders. For example, local
authorities in the city of Bogor failed to honor a December 2010 Supreme Court
decision related to a construction permit for the GKI Yasmin Church.
During the year a number of low-level and sometimes mid-level soldiers were tried
in military courts, including for offenses that involved civilians or occurred when
soldiers were not on duty. If a soldier was suspected of committing a crime,
military police investigated and then passed their findings to military prosecutors,
who decided whether to prepare a case. Under the law, military prosecutors are
accountable to the Supreme Court; however, military prosecutors were responsible
to the TNI for the application of laws.
A three-person panel of military judges heard trials, while the High Military Court,
the Primary Military Court, and the Supreme Court heard appeals. Civil society
organizations and other observers criticized the short length of prison sentences
imposed by military courts.
NGO sources stated some military court proceedings were not public and
occasionally complained about access to hearings; for example, NGOs complained
about limited information from and access to the trial of soldiers implicated in the
death of Charles Mali (see section 1.c.). However, the January court martial of
three soldiers for the videotaped torture of a Papuan detainee was public and
attended by international observers (see section 1.c.).
Four district courts located in Surabaya, Makassar, Jakarta, and Medan are
authorized to adjudicate cases of systematic gross human rights violations with the
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011
United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor