Enforced disappearances: Never again in Indonesia<\/p>\n
Mugiyanto, Chairman, Indonesian Association of Families of Missing Persons
\n(IKOHI), Jakarta<\/p>\n
Enforced or involuntary disappearances constitute a violation
\nof the rules of international law that guarantee the right to
\nrecognition as an individual before the law, the individual's
\nright to liberty and security and the right not to be subjected
\nto torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or
\npunishment. Thus reads Article 1 of the United Nations
\nDeclaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced or
\nInvoluntary Disappearances.<\/p>\n
Enforced or involuntary disappearances "also violates or
\nconstitutes a grave threat to the right to life," the article
\nstates.<\/p>\n
In the last week of May every year, various community groups
\nand groups of victims and families of those subjected to enforced
\ndisappearances from various countries, particularly from Latin
\nAmerica, Asia and Africa, observe the International Week of
\nDisappearances. The Indonesian Association of Families of Victims
\nof Enforced Disappearances (IKOHI) and the Commission for Missing
\nPersons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) are two of these
\ngroups.<\/p>\n
A state policy of "disappearing" people was firstly known to
\nbepracticed by Adolf Hitler, when he issued a decree in 1941
\nordering that anyone "endangering German security" in areas
\ncontrolled by the Nazi government be arrested and taken secretly
\nto Germany, where they were to disappear without a trace.<\/p>\n
This policy was later adopted as a systematic state policy
\nprevailing in South America, particularly in Guatemala and
\nBrazil, from the late 1960s up to the early 1970s. The term
\n"enforced or involuntary disappearances" was first coined by a
\nnon-governmental organization in Latin America.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia, this phenomenon did not come to public attention
\nuntil the latter stages of Soeharto's New Order regime, a period
\nmarked by a number of cases in which pro-democracy activists were
\nsubjected to enforced disappearances or were kidnapped by the
\nstate apparatus, because they were politically against the ruling
\nregime.<\/p>\n
Kontras has documented that 14 people are still missing today.
\nTheir enforced disappearances took place in 1997\/1998 against the
\nbackdrop of three political settings: The 1997 general elections
\ncampaigning period, the pre-1998 general session of the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR) and the post-1998 general session of
\nthe Assembly. One of these missing people is Wiji Thukul, a poet
\nwhose work is said to be critical of the ruling regime.<\/p>\n
Five years have passed since these enforced disappearances
\ntook place. Regimes have changed. Families of the victims have
\nmade many attempts to find out the whereabouts of their loved
\nones. They have visited many places, relevant government agencies
\nand international institutions abroad, but to little avail.<\/p>\n
The state must be held accountable for these heinous crimes,
\nmust stop such crimes and prevent them from happening again.
\nThese three points constitute the demands made by IKOHI, Kontras
\nand other Indonesian rights activists over the past five years.<\/p>\n
The non-recurrence of enforced disappearances can be
\nguaranteed only if the state can account for previous cases, so
\nthe state must investigate these past cases.<\/p>\n
The legal process will reveal the truth behind these cases so
\nthat the perpetrators, the incidents themselves and the victims,
\nincluding their current and their welfare, will come to light.<\/p>\n
If the investigations, interrogations and fair prosecution
\ntake place, the state would admit to having committed serious
\nhuman rights violations.<\/p>\n
The state's next obligation will be to fulfill the rights of
\nthe victims.<\/p>\n
The state must restore the victims' rights or provide
\nrehabilitation and compensation. This reparation is compulsory on
\nthe part of the state and must be conducted the moment the
\nprocess of truth-seeking and prosecution takes place.<\/p>\n
Failure to thoroughly settle the crime of enforced
\ndisappearances will only lead to the recurrence of similar
\nincidents. In Indonesia, this fear has become a reality. The
\nfailure to thoroughly settle the cases of enforced disappearances
\nin 1997\/1998 has led to continued disappearances.<\/p>\n
It is of vital importance that all segments of the civilian
\ncommunity should devote their attention to enforced
\ndisappearances, especially considering that the government, in
\nits effort to fight terrorism, has promulgated the Law on
\nTerrorism. Article 26 of this law stipulates that an investigator
\ncan detain people on the basis of intelligence, and that an
\ninterrogation conducted by the chairman and deputy chairman of a
\ndistrict court can be held behind closed doors. Some circles have
\ndubbed these articles as "articles of kidnapping".<\/p>\n
The current political process is highly conducive to enforced
\ndisappearances, as the dominant position of the military over
\ncivilian political authorities have made it possible for the
\nmilitary to act freely without having to heed critical voices in
\nsociety. The government policy regarding Aceh is a concrete
\nexample.<\/p>\n
Then, prior to the 2004 general elections, the political elite
\nand political parties alike would be contesting one another -- a
\nsituation highly prone to political violence. In this context,
\nenforced disappearances is very likely become one of the
\nmanifestations of this violence.<\/p>\n
It is time that we all called out loud, like the relatives of
\nenforced disappearances elsewhere: Nunca mas! Never again!<\/p>\n
The writer is a survivor of the 1998 kidnapping of pro-
\ndemocracy activists.<\/p>",
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