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Prabowo Subianto is a highly contorversial Indonesian military man and politician.
A very powerful man under the dictaorship of Suharto, whose son-in-law he was, he seemed a likely heir presumptive. The 1998 Revolution cut short his career, and he is accused of having instigated various "riots, plunderings, rapes and murders" in a futile effort to stop it, as well as to preserve Indonesian rule in East Timor. The contoversial special forces unit Kopassus seems deeply implicated in these alleged crimes.
Following 1998, Prabowo became one of the most widely hated men in Indonesia, variously described by political foes as a war criminal, "an opportunist and a sadist", and "the most corrupt man in the country".
Nevertheless, he remains powerful enough that no subsequent Indonesian government felt able to officially bring charges against him on any of the many acts of which he had been so widely accused, and he still particpates in active politics.
Pre-1998 Career
Prabowo is the son of former finance minister Sumitro Djojohadikusumo. His brother, Hashim Djojohadikusumo, was the controller of one of Indonesia's larger conglomerates, the Tirtamas Group, until it went bankrupt during the 1997-98 economic crisis.
His connections helped him to a sucessful militay career, quickly reaching the rank of general. Part of his time in the military was spent in East Timor where, as later charged, he had been involved in many human rights violations at the course of attempts to stamp out the independance movement.
By 1998 Prabowo had built up a strong power base inside the army. Though General Wiranto was Minister of Security and Defense and the highest commander of ABRI (Indonesian military), in many ways he seemed only a titular commander or "puppet", while Prabowo held the de-facto power over the military.
The orders for the army generals came directly from top - from President Suharto, Prabowo's father in law, with whom he had a direct link bypassing Wiranto. Also, most of the vital posts - in the Army in general and the strategic capital city operational forces in particular - were occupied by Prabowo's close associates, such as Major General Sjafie Sjamsoeddin, Major General Kivlan Zen, Major General Muchdi Purwopranjono and others.
Asserted brutal acts in 1998
Prabowo obvioulsly had the most to lose from the victory of the pro-democracy reform movement in 1998, and he did all in his power to try and smash that movement. There can be little doubt that he was willing to resort to brute force, though the precise scope of his responsibility for specific acts and measures remains hotly debated and controversial.
Detentions, torture and the killing of dissidents
While there are serious accusations of human rights violations concerning Prabowo's earlier career in East Timor, most of the crimes in connection with which his name is mentioned occurred during what turned out to be the 1998 death thores of the Suharto Regime.
According to the accusations made widely and repeatedly, in Indonesia itself as well as internationally, Prabowo was at that time involved in "the kidnappings, tortures, abuses, and murders" of anti-Suharto intellectuals and activists. Such operations were mostly implemented using Prabowo's loyalists within the Indonesian Army, especially its elite unit Kopassus.
Many of the victims are still missing and believed dead. Among them are poet and artist Wiji Tukul, as well as Bimo Petrus Anugerah, Ismail, Mochammad Yusuf, Sonny, Ryan (Yani) Afri, Ucok Munandar Siahaan, Yadin Muhyidin, Noval Said Alkatiri, Herman Hendrawan, Suyat, Deddy Hamdun, and Hendra Hambali.
However, some of those detained and tortured did survive to tell the tale, including Pius Lustri Lanang, Desmon Mahesa and Haryanto Taslam. There are also the present members of IKOHI (Ikatan Keluarga Orang Hilang Indonesia - Indonesian Association of Missing People's Families), among whom are Mugiyanto, Aan Rusdiyanto, Nezar Patria, Faisol Reza, Rahardjo Waluyo Jati, and Andi Arif.
Later, when Prabowo was called upon by General Wiranto to account for his acts, he admitted his involvement in the 'arrests' of nine activists - taking care to name nine who are still alive, but denying responsibility for detainess who remain missing. He claimed that the operation had not been reported to the top command of ABRI (Indonesian Armed Forces) because 'he didn't want to stir them up'.
In fact the 'arrests' of the nine activists, an act admitted to by Prabowo himself, could not be considered a legal 'arrest' at all: there was no warrant, nor any kind of due prochedure; the detainers wore masks, while the victims were blindfolded and handcuffed on the way to the detention camp - more like being kidnapped than being arrested.
In that still mysterious detention center (supposedly a military camp, from its description in the vitcims' testimonies, but its location has not yet been ascertained) the victims were tortured for days. Most of their time was spent blidnfolded, while being forced to answer repeated questions. They were kicked, punched, terrorized physically and mentally, and given electric shocks (including in vital areas of the body)
Fomenting anti-Chinese riots ("The May Chaos")
Aside from the abuse of pro-democracy activists, Prabowo is also believed to have used Kopassus - and the army in general, which was "under his de facto control" - as the instrument of "a field-exercise in triggering chaos". Such "exercises" during 1997 and 1998 mostly targeted the Indonesian-Chinese minority
The following arguments were brought up in support of the assertion that Prabowo and Kopasus were responsible for the sowing of chaos and the attacks on the Indonesian Chinese:
- 1. One of the worst outbreaks occurred at the city of Solo, Central Java, with the headquarters of Kopasus located just a few miles southwest of the city - but its officers had taken no action to help the overwhelmed law enforcement authorities in the city. From this can be concluded that either Kopasus was passively letting the angry mob rampage in the city - or worse, was actively masterminding the spread of chaos in Solo.
- 2.In many cases of looting and arson, both at the capital Jakarta and Solo, witnesses testified to the presence of rioters carrying sophisticated weapons, such as flame throwers - nearly impossible for ordinary civilians to obtain, but easily available in military armouries. Moreover, many witnesses - from among both the victims and the looters themselves - told of the outbreak of riots being triggered by the appearance of strangers, who came by motorbikes and distributed swords and Molotov Cocktails to the forming mobs. These stangers seemed to have undergone intensive physical training, and had tattoos and short military-style haircuts.
- 3. There were also testimonies of trained snipers, apprently from the army, involved in the Trisakti Incident, which was the prelude to the "May Chaos" and riots. It was allegedly the snipers who shot at university students and killed six of them.
- 4. Prabowo's involvement in the fomenting the May Chaos was later clearly affirmed in the conclusions of the TGPF (Combined Team of Facts Finders), which were accepted by the US State Department. Robert Rubin, then a senior member of the Clinton Adminstration stated that the conclusions were accountable. Moreover, Prabowo's invovement in the riots was also asserted in the The independent research carried out by R.J. May and Geoff Forrester (former Vice-Secretary of the Commerce and Foreign Department of Australia ).
Power struggle with Wiranto
General Wiranto apparently realised that the chaos was fatally undermining his formal authority and underlining Prabowo's actual control - and that the main source of the chaos were the supposed army peacekeepers.
On May 14, 1998 Wiranto took the decisive action of decoying Prabowo and his associates to a supposed army top officers' conference at Malang, East Java. In his absence Wiranto brought the Marines from East Java to West Java and Central Java to ease the chaos.
As if miraculously, the riots decreased overnight snd stopped altogether on the next day. This is taken as the conclusive proof that it was indeed Prabowo who had been masterminding the riots and the chaos, and that taking him out of the 'operational zone' and introducing uninvolved troops was sufficiant to end the chaos.
Final fall from grace
The fall of Suharto and his replacement by the hitherto disregarded Vice-President Habibie deprived Prabowo of his most important power source, though for some time he and his associates still retained their positions in the army.
In his recently published memoires Habibie discloses that during his early days in power, there were wild movements of Army units around the Presidential Palace, organized by Prabowo - with the reasonable explanation being that Prabowo was preparing for a coup.
Whatever Prabowo's plans may have been, he had no chance to implemet them: Habibie and Wiranto quickly removed Prabowo and many of his associates from their posts, strongly backed by the resurgent reform movement.
Surviving in politics
Despite all the vicitudes and no longer having Suharto's patronage, Prabowo is still considered a powerful man, even a pretty untouchable one. Until now, he was never put on trial for any the crimes he allegedly committed.
By end of 2003, Prabowo - who still had some support in the Suharto-created ruling party Golkar - felt bold enough to try running for President. He was, however, defeated by his former military superior Wiranto in the party congress, convened to nominate a candidate for the Presidency.
Even so, Prabowo is still active in the Indonesian political life and still seems to be waiting for a good opportunity to seize. His most recent political move came in 2005, when he was believed to be involved in the spreading of the "Wiranto AFI VCD".
That controversial cassette had an attractive cover photo from AFI (a popular Indonesian talent show similar to American Idol), but contained a supposed documentation of the May 1998 Chaos which placed most of the blame on Wiranto.
Though Prabowo's involvement in this affair was not conclusively proven, either, he clearly seems the person with the greatest interest in pursuing such a controversy.
References
- Testimony of Andi Arif
- Geoff Forrester and R.J. May, The Fall of Soeharto, C.Hurst & Co., London,1998
- Jusuf Habibie, "Detik-detik yang Menentukan: Jalan Panjang Indonesia Menuju Demokrasi" (roughly translated as "Decisive Seconds: Indonesia's Long Way to Democracy")