Kidnapped activists were killed: Team<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
A team set up by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas
\nHAM) to probe into the abductions of prodemocracy activists
\nduring the regime of former dictator Soeharto has come to
\nconclusion that all the victims had died.<\/p>\n
The team has also identified a number of suspects involved in
\nthe kidnapping of the 12 activists -- mostly students -- during
\nthe 1997-1998 period.<\/p>\n
\"We have determined that the cases can be categorized as a
\ngross human rights abuse. Also, we have identified the suspects,
\nincluding the masterminds,\" team member Martono said on Sunday.<\/p>\n
However, he refused to disclose the number or names of the
\nsuspects. Earlier, the team was told by witnesses that the
\nabduction victims had all been seen at military facilities.<\/p>\n
Martono, also a legal expert from the East Java-based Surabaya
\nUniversity, said the team finalized the investigation with the
\nhelp of a suspected \"field operator\" who testified about the
\nkidnapping operation.<\/p>\n
Martono declined to name the informant.<\/p>\n
\"We don't know the reasons why this man (the informant) came
\nand testified before us about the operation. The most important
\nthing is that his information has helped us find out that none of
\nthe 12 activists survived,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The whereabouts of the activists' bodies were still a mystery.<\/p>\n
The informant also told the team that the 12 activists were
\nmostly affiliated to the Democratic People's Party (PRD), a
\npolitical group of youths that staunchly campaigned against
\nSoeharto's New Order regime, and others who supported his then-
\npolitical opponent Megawati Soekarnoputri who then led the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party (PDI).<\/p>\n
However, based on a report by the group of families and
\nrelatives of the missing persons (IKOHI), there were at least 14
\npeople, not 12, who disappeared during the same period, including
\nYani Afri and Sonny, both drivers involved in pro-Megawati
\ncampaigns against the Soeharto rule.<\/p>\n
The remaining 12 were Deddy Hamdun, Noval Alkatiri and Ismail
\n-- all loyalists of the United Development Party (PPP), Suyat,
\nHerman Hendrawan, Petrus Bima Anugerah, M. Yusuf, Ucok Munandar
\nSiahaan, Yadin Muhidin, Hendra Hambali and street singer and poet
\nWidji Thukul -- all PRD activists, as well as Abdun Nasser, a
\ncontractor who went missing during the riots of May 1998.<\/p>\n
The team presented its report during a plenary session of
\nKomnas HAM in August, and was awaiting a hearing with lawmakers
\nbefore filing it to prosecutors.<\/p>\n
\"I think our team and lawmakers will be engaged in a rigorous
\ndebate as to whether the case should legally proceed. But no
\nmatter what the political decision is, I believe that the dark
\nside of the country's history can not be hidden for much longer,\"
\nMartono was quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Law No. 26\/2000 stipulates that the establishment of a human
\nrights tribunal to try such a case requires the political
\napproval of the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
Other cases of human rights abuses, including the Trisakti
\nincident on May 12, 1998, and the Semanggi I and Semanggi II
\nincidents on Oct. 13,1998 and on Sept. 24, 1998, have never gone
\nto court as the House earlier declared those three incidents
\ncould not be categorized as gross human rights abuses.<\/p>\n
Martono said the modus operandi of the abduction cases showed
\nsimilarities with the Trisakti shootings and May riots, with the
\nonly differences \"the role of the field operators\".<\/p>\n
\"The point is that these incidents had strong correlations:
\nThe masterminds were those who insisted on keeping their
\npolitical hold on the country; the same people the reform
\nmovement had disgraced,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kidnapped-activists-were-killed-team-1447893297",
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