Missing persons' reports flood human rights office<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): The newly created Office of the State Minister
\nof Human Rights Affairs has received some 3,000 reports of
\nmissing persons, most of them alleged abductions in Aceh, East
\nTimor and Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The office's third deputy, Asmar Oemar Saleh, said on Thursday
\nthe missing persons' reports were part of a total of 4,000
\nsubmitted to the office in the past three and a half months.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a human rights seminar at Padjadjaran University,
\nAsmar said there were restrictions on how his office could pursue
\ninvestigation of the reports.<\/p>\n
"Unfortunately, we haven't been able to cope with the reports
\nas the government has not yet come up with a policy to handle
\ncases of missing persons," Asmar said.<\/p>\n
"Moreover, most of the cases were quite vague and did not have
\nclear leads."<\/p>\n
He said many of the disappearances occurred a long time ago.<\/p>\n
"We haven't got any clear answers from both the governments of
\nSoeharto and Habibie about these cases, which occurred during
\ntheir tenure."<\/p>\n
To address the institutional problems and lack of legal
\ninstruments to tackle the reports, Asmar said the ministry would
\nhold a symposium next month to gather opinions on policies to
\nhandle the missing persons' cases.<\/p>\n
In a related development, the coordinator of the Commission
\nfor Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), Munir,
\nsupported previous claims that the disappearance of Lt. Col.
\nSudjono, a suspect in a mass shooting in Aceh, occurred to
\n"eliminate the link to his commanding officers".<\/p>\n
"Sudjono was supposed to be protected as a key suspect and
\nwitness by the Indonesian Military (TNI) commander and the
\nattorney general. But now they don't know his whereabouts. It's
\nutterly puzzling.<\/p>\n
"The authorities must take responsibility and take concrete
\nsteps. Don't just say that he deserted."<\/p>\n
He added that Kontras was also ready to provide legal counsel
\nto Sudjono's family because he presumably "went missing against
\nhis will".<\/p>\n
Munir said several Kontras activists were searching for
\nSudjono in cities such as Banda Aceh, Medan and ones in West
\nJava, but to no avail.<\/p>\n
Munir contended that Sudjono should be termed a "key witness"
\nrather than a "suspect" because his actions resulted from orders
\nfrom his commanders.<\/p>\n
Sudjono was allegedly involved in the shooting death of
\nreligious teacher Tengku Bantaqiah, his wife, his students and
\ndozens of farmers last year.<\/p>\n
A government-sanctioned inquiry in December concluded they
\nwere killed by soldiers.<\/p>\n
Munir conceded that in processing and uncovering human rights
\ncases, priority was given to cases with higher political or
\npublic visibility.<\/p>\n
"East Timor has the top priority because it concerns the fate
\nof high-ranking officers threatened with a military tribunal.
\nWhile Aceh does not have such urgency."<\/p>\n
Separately in Aceh, violence continued to rock the restive
\nprovince as Second Sgt. Heri Santoso of the Gegana Police Squad
\nwas stabbed to death in an antirebel raid at a house in Ujong
\nRimba village, Mutiara district, in Pidie on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n
"The attacker hid on the roof and suddenly jumped off and
\nstabbed him in the heart with a rencong (dagger)," local police
\nchief Lt. Col. Endang Emiqail Bagus said.<\/p>\n
In North Aceh, a military convoy consisting of one truck and
\nthree vans was ambushed by an armed gang in Ulee Nyeue village of
\nNisam district, located about 25 kilometers south of Lhokseumawe
\non Wednesday night, leaving three soldiers wounded.<\/p>\n
North Aceh Military chief Lt. Col. Suyatno, who was in the
\nconvoy, said that dozens of attackers, brandishing M-16 and AK-47
\nsemiautomatic rifles, attacked the group on the way home from
\nBireun. "The gang, some of them spraying bullets from treetops,
\nfled the scene after a 15-minute gunfight," Suyatno said on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The wounded soldiers, identified as Cpl. Sanusi, Second Sgt.
\nHasanuddin and Second Sgt. M. Kasim, were taken to Lilawangsa
\nmilitary hospital for treatment.<\/p>\n
Unconfirmed reports said an antirebel raid took place at
\nKrueng Tabe district in West Aceh on Thursday, leaving six people
\ndead. (01\/25\/50\/51\/edt)<\/p>",
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