Local group seeks UN help to probe May riots<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Members of the Volunteers of Humanity have said
\nthey received a positive response at a hearing with a United
\nNations Sub-Commission in Geneva, Switzerland, on a plea to send
\na team of international investigators to probe the causes of the
\nMay riots.<\/p>\n
\"We requested the sub-commission recommend members of the
\nInternational Commission of Jurists come to help us here,\"
\nCatholic priest Sandyawan Sumardi, secretary of the volunteer
\ngroup, said here yesterday.<\/p>\n
However he could not say when a final decision would be made.<\/p>\n
\"We have just arrived (from our trip) so we are still waiting
\nfor their answer. But I believe they will grant our request.\"<\/p>\n
The group returned at the weekend from an overseas trip which
\nincluded a hearing in front of the UN Sub-Commission on the
\nPrevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities.<\/p>\n
They also presented their findings on the May riots to United
\nStates Congressmen in Washington D.C..<\/p>\n
Sandyawan said the arrival of the international jurists would
\nenable a fair investigation on the riots to proceed.<\/p>\n
The volunteer group was the first to reveal the true extent of
\nthe devastating riots which left at least 1,200 people dead and
\nthousands of buildings destroyed or looted.<\/p>\n
The targeting of ethnic Chinese establishments and the sexual
\nabuse of women were also disclosed as a feature of the unrest.<\/p>\n
Sandyawan admitted that one reason he called for an
\ninternational team to come was his doubt that the government's
\nown team would succeed in it work.<\/p>\n
\"I doubt that the fact-finding team established by the
\ngovernment will work efficiently and transparently,\" he said,
\nreferring to the joint team set up by the government to
\ninvestigate the riots and uncover their mastermind.<\/p>\n
The 19-member team, of which Sandyawan is a member, comprises
\nrepresentatives of the National Commission on Human Rights, the
\nmilitary, and some non-governmental organizations.<\/p>\n
Sandyawan said the hearings were also a good opportunity for
\nthe group to explain to the outside world that the riots were not
\nracially motivated.<\/p>\n
\"The riots were not a matter of racism but designed by certain
\ngroups and used ethnic issues to trigger people's anger,\" he
\ncharged.<\/p>\n
The international outcry at the riots and sexual abuse of
\nwomen during the May unrest continued yesterday as Singapore's
\nmost prominent women's group urged the UN to impose political and
\neconomic sanctions if the rapes recurred.<\/p>\n
Petition<\/p>\n
The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) is
\ncirculating a petition on the sanctions, which it plans to
\npresent to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.<\/p>\n
The petition \"calls for political and economic sanctions
\nagainst Indonesia\" if the rapes happen again, AWARE president
\nPhyllis Chew said.<\/p>\n
Talk of sanctions is rare in the Association of Southeast
\nAsian Nations (ASEAN), whose member countries adhere to a strict
\npolicy of noninterference in one another's domestic affairs.<\/p>\n
But Chew said the move expressed the feelings of a growing
\nnumber of people in Singapore.<\/p>\n
\"We are an NGO (non-government organization), so I think we
\nhave a right to say what we feel,\" Chew said as quoted by DPA.
\n\"It's up to political leaders to decide whether (the sanctions)
\nare feasible or not.\"<\/p>\n
AWARE issued a public call for justice last month over the
\nrapes. But Chew said they were taking further action due to an
\noverwhelming response.<\/p>\n
\"Many people have called up and said: 'We can't just stop
\nthere, we're not doing enough... we want to be involved,'\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The Singapore women's group plans to hold a \"solidarity day\"
\nfor the Indonesian rape victims today, and is inviting the public
\nto its center to sign the petition. (emf)<\/p>",
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