Indonesia losing sight of rights, says Amnesty<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (Reuters): Amnesty International said on Saturday the
\nIndonesian government was failing to live up to its pledges on
\nhuman rights and democracy and was resorting to repressive
\nmeasures used by former President Soeharto's regime.<\/p>\n
"The government's response to recent demonstrations and riots
\nshows a striking similarity to the repressive methods employed by
\nthe former Soeharto regime," the London-based human rights group
\nsaid in a report issued in Australia.<\/p>\n
Amnesty said President B.J. Habibie had come to power in May
\n1998 with a high-profile agenda for political and human rights
\nreform which had delivered early positive results.<\/p>\n
These included the release of 120 political prisoners and the
\nopening up of Indonesia and the province of East Timor, annexed
\nby Indonesia in 1976, to United Nations officials.<\/p>\n
"Six months later, the Indonesian government appears to have
\nlost sight of its commitments to respect human rights and for
\ngreater transparency and political participation," it said.<\/p>\n
"In particular, excessive and lethal force has been used
\nagainst demonstrators and rioters and individuals are being
\nthreatened with criminal charges for their peaceful political
\nactivities," it said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, facing an acute social, political and economic
\nupheaval, on Thursday said it would hold general elections in
\nJune 1998.<\/p>\n
It also promised to speed up an investigation into Soeharto's
\nwealth, the focus of mounting student protests amid estimates the
\nformer president's family amassed a fortune of up to $40 billion
\nduring his reign.<\/p>\n
On Friday, a senior government official said Soeharto could be
\nplaced under house arrest during a probe into his wealth.<\/p>\n
Amnesty said Indonesia should bring to justice those
\nresponsible for the deaths in May 1998 in Jakarta of four
\nTrisakti University students, which sparked riots that brought an
\nend to the 32-year Soeharto rule. At least 1,200 people during
\nthe riots.<\/p>\n
It said Soeharto's son-in-law, Lieutenant-General Prabowo
\nSubianto had been dismissed from the military over the
\ndisappearance of nine political activists but noted that Prabowo
\nand two fellow senior officers had not been brought to trial.<\/p>\n
"In both cases, the investigations have been only partial and
\nthose responsible for the violations have not yet been brought to
\njustice," it said.<\/p>\n
"Moreover, 13 other political activists who 'disappeared'
\nbetween April 1997 and May 1998 are still missing and the
\ninvestigation into their 'disappearance' appears to have halted,"
\nit said.<\/p>\n
Amnesty said it was concerned about continued killings and
\nother human rights abuses against independence activists in East
\nTimor and other the troubled provinces of Irian Jaya, on New
\nGuinea island, and Aceh, in northern Sumatra.<\/p>",
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