Calls grow for probe into disappearances<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Despite the detention of several Army special
\nforce (Kopassus) officers for the abduction of activists, leading
\nopposition and human rights figures intensified their demands
\nyesterday for a thorough investigation to discover the brains
\nbehind the crimes.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman Wahid, Marzuki Darusman and Amien Rais all
\ndemanded that the investigation not stop at its present juncture
\nbut reveal the mastermind of the abductions.<\/p>\n
\"Armed Forces (ABRI) leaders are being more transparent ...
\nYet, they are still unable to reveal the mastermind and only get
\n'small-fry' officers to take the responsibility,\" Abdurrahman,
\nchairman of the 30-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslems
\norganization, said in a written speech to a seminar on national
\nunity.<\/p>\n
Marzuki, deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human
\nRights, pointed out that a thorough investigation could help
\nrepair the Armed Forces' battered image.<\/p>\n
\"ABRI will regain people's confidence if it discloses the
\nwhole truth of the case,\" he told reporters during a coffee break
\nin the seminar.<\/p>\n
However he suggested that those currently being charged with
\nthe case should be brought before the Honorary Military Council
\ninstead of a court martial.<\/p>\n
\"A court martial will only try the suspects who are described
\nin the dossiers and not the mastermind. A meeting of the Honorary
\nMilitary Council on the other hand will be able to reveal the
\nwhole truth of the abductions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In Semarang, Central Java, Amien Rais said investigations
\nshould not stop with the seven special forces suspects.<\/p>\n
\"Long before the fact-finding team was established, people had
\nalready identified Kopassus members' involvement in the
\nabductions of the political activists. ABRI now needs to go
\nfurther,\" Amien, chairman of the 28-million-strong Muhammadiyah
\nMoslems organization, told reporters.<\/p>\n
The commander of the National Military Police Corps, Maj. Gen.
\nSyamsu Djalal, disclosed Wednesday that at least seven members of
\nthe Army special force (Kopassus) were involved in the activists'
\nabductions.<\/p>\n
Syamsu did not dismiss the possibility of questioning former
\nKopassus commanders who were in charge at the time of the
\nabductions.<\/p>\n
Minister of Defense and Security\/Armed Forces Commander Gen.
\nWiranto said yesterday that the provisional results of the Armed
\nForces' investigation showed procedural violations by the seven
\nKopassus members, as they went beyond their superiors'
\ninstructions.<\/p>\n
\"The Kopassus instructed an immediate operation to unveil a
\nnumber of radical activities, which were obviously harmful to
\nvarious government programs and the people's safety,\" he told
\nreporters after briefing instructors of the Agency for the
\nPropagation of Pancasila (BP7).<\/p>\n
\"In the implementation, the Kopassus members acted beyond
\nappropriate procedures, including committing indisciplined acts
\nand measures exceeding the superior's instruction,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Wiranto, however, declined to comment on the possibility of
\nquestioning former Kopassus chief Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto in
\nconnection with the ongoing investigation. (har\/imn)<\/p>",
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