Indonesia’s likely next president made 4-star general despite links to alleged human rights abuses

By EDNA TARIGAN and ACHMAD IBRAHIM
Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian President Joko Widodo has awarded an honorary four-star general rank to Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto, a former high-ranking army officer who is linked to human rights abuses and who emerged as the apparent winner of the Feb. 14 presidential election. The alleged human rights abuses led to Subianto being forced out of the military and he was dishonorably discharged in 1998. Subianto’s vice presidential running mate, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, is Widodo’s son. Human rights groups have claimed that Subianto was involved in a series of human rights violations in Timor-Leste in the 1980s and 90s, when Indonesia occupied the now-independent nation. Subianto has denied those allegations.