Gus Dur to solicit support for truth seeking committee<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Muslim figurehead Abdurrahman Wahid departed for
\nGermany on Sunday for eye surgery, and to solicit international
\nsupport for his planned Commission for Truth-Seeking and National
\nReconciliation.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, will announce and lead
\nthe commission when he returns on Feb. 25. He told The Jakarta
\nPost before departure from the Soekarno-Hatta Airport that the
\nteam would comprise 10 international leaders and 25 local ones.<\/p>\n
Among the world leaders he planned to invite to sit in the
\nteam were Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Lee Kuan Yew, Oscar Arias
\nSanchez and Jimmy Carter.<\/p>\n
He also planned to invite domestic figures including
\nYogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party in Struggle (PDI
\nPerjuangan), former minister Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Julius
\nCardinal Dharmaatmadja of the Indonesian Bishops Council, J.M.
\nPattiasina of the Indonesian Communion of Churches, and Dili
\nBishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo.<\/p>\n
\"Kwik Kian Gie of PDI Perjuangan has stated his wish to join
\nthe team,\" Gus Dur said.<\/p>\n
When asked whether anyone would be invited from the
\nMuhammadiyah Muslim organization, the chairman of Nadhlatul Ulama
\n(NU) said \"none\".<\/p>\n
Omar Halim, a former deputy director of the Europe Division of
\nthe Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations, will
\nbe the executive director of the commission. Abdurrahman said
\nHalim was now working on the details for the establishment and
\nresponsibilities of the commission.<\/p>\n
Economist Hartojo Wignjowiyoto will be Abdurrahman's deputy.
\nSeveral government officials would also be invited to sit in the
\ncommission, but Abdurrahman declined to name them.<\/p>\n
The commission was to be announced after Abdurrahman's return.<\/p>\n
\"It is not wise to declare it at this time,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He explained the commission was planned to address concerns
\nfor many cases of rights abuse that have gone unsolved for years.
\nSome were not investigated thoroughly, he said, citing as
\nexamples the Tanjung Priok incident and the military atrocities
\nin Aceh.<\/p>\n
The team, once established, will be tasked with digging out
\nthe truth of the cases and fostering reconciliation among the
\nparties involved, he said.<\/p>\n
He conceded that the public at the moment tended to blame all
\nviolence on the Armed Forces, given its poor record of rights
\nviolations in the past. Passing the blame, however, was not
\nneeded, he said, adding that the important thing was to help all
\nelements in society settle their grievances peacefully.<\/p>\n
\"Reconciliation means we admit that those things have happened
\nbut also (take care) that they not fracture our national unity in
\nthe future,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The real goal of the commission, he said, was to ensure that
\nthe violence of the past would not be repeated.<\/p>\n
The results of the commission's work would be made public, he
\npromised.<\/p>\n
\"Soeharto's case will not be directly discussed by the
\ncommission because it is still recent,\" he said of the charges of
\npower abuse leveled by many at the former president.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman left on Sunday with an entourage of 11 people
\nincluding his wife Nuriyah, his daughter, his brother and private
\ndoctor Umar Wahid and also his private secretary Al Zastrow Ng.<\/p>\n
Abdurrahman will undergo eye surgery at a hospital in Luevuen,
\nBelgium, his doctor said.<\/p>\n
However, the Muslim leader also planned to spend his time
\nvisiting some prominent figures and Indonesian people in Germany,
\nthe Netherlands, and Belgium.<\/p>\n
He was scheduled to meet with members of the Germany chamber
\nof commerce and officials and politicians in the three countries.
\nHe also expressed the hope he would be able to meet with German
\nChancellor Gerhard Schroeder. (01)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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