Missing persons' relatives set up association<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The relatives of 14 missing persons, mostly
\nactivists, set up an association on Friday to provide each other
\nwith moral support and to campaign for the eradication of forced
\ndisappearances.<\/p>\n
\"We will never give up hope of finding our family members,\"
\nUtomo Rahardjo, chairman of the Association of Missing Persons'
\nRelatives, said in a statement made at the office of the
\nIndonesian Legal Aid Institute. Utomo is the father of Bimo
\nPetrus Anugrah, a student at Driyarkara School of Philosophy
\nuntil he vanished in Jakarta in March.<\/p>\n
Utomo said that the association wanted the relatives of
\nmissing persons throughout the country to join, including those
\nin Aceh, East Timor and Irian Jaya. Human rights groups claim
\nthat hundreds of people were abducted in these three troubled
\nprovinces during the 32 years Soeharto ruled Indonesia.<\/p>\n
As of Friday, no progress was reported in the investigation of
\n11 soldiers from the Army's Special Force (Kopassus) who are
\nsuspected of involvement in the abductions, or on the whereabouts
\nof the missing people. The Armed Forces (ABRI) has said the
\nsoldiers will be court martialled.<\/p>\n
Munir, who heads the independent Commission for Missing
\nPersons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), had said the
\ncommission would eventually play a supporting role and let
\nfamilies take the lead in the campaign for the return of the
\nmissing activists.<\/p>\n
Munir said representatives of Kontras, the kin of the missing
\nactivists and one kidnap victim who has since been released will
\nfly to Geneva in Switzerland on Sept. 24 to report the cases
\nbefore a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Commission.<\/p>\n
Earlier on Friday, relatives of the missing activists visited
\nthe National Military Police Headquarters in Central Jakarta.
\nThey urged its chief, Maj. Gen. Syamsu Djalal, to allow them to
\nmeet the 11 members of Kopassus who have been detained for their
\nalleged involvement in the abductions. Former missing activist
\nAndi Arief said that he wanted to question the suspects on the
\nwhereabouts of those who remain missing.<\/p>\n
Syamsu said he supported the wish to meet the suspects, but
\nsaid that he would first need to consult their lawyer.<\/p>\n
The London-based Amnesty International human rights group
\ncalled on the Armed Forces on Monday to grant it access to
\nquestion the suspects to guarantee impartiality in the
\ninvestigation.<\/p>\n
Kontras have recorded at least 24 disappearances since April
\n1997. Nine people, including Andi, have reappeared after going
\nmissing for several months. One, a street singer called Leonardus
\n\"Gilang\" Nugroho Iskandar, was found dead with bullet wounds in a
\nforest near Magetan in East Java on May 23. The rest remain
\nunaccounted for.<\/p>\n
Last month, Minister of Defense and Security\/Armed Forces
\nCommander Gen. Wiranto discharged former Kopassus commander Lt.
\nGen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto from the Army and removed two senior
\nKopassus officers from active duties after they confessed to
\nhaving played a part in the kidnappings. (byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/missing-persons-relatives-set-up-association-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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