Remarks on ex-prisoners clarified<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A member of the National Commission on Human
\nRights yesterday said that it is too early at this stage to talk
\nabout seeking the release of former communists who have been in
\njail for nearly 30 years.<\/p>\n
Clarifying a statement he made during a seminar to discuss the
\nfate of former and current political prisoners, which was
\nreported by The Jakarta Post yesterday, Bambang Suharto said the
\ncommission has been discussing the issue in general but no team
\nhas been appointed to look into the matter.<\/p>\n
The matter was first raised by Hamid Attamimi, a
\nconstitutional law expert and member of the commission who died
\nlast month, he added.<\/p>\n
Bambang pointed out that the commission has no intention to
\ninterfere with the legal process of convicted former communists
\nwho are now in jail. \"Whether or not they should be released, I
\nthink it is the prerogative of the President,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said the commission is concerned about the fate of the
\noffspring of former and current political prisoners.<\/p>\n
Bambang, who said he was involved in the campaign against
\ncommunism in the 1960s, said the Sept. 30, 1965 plot to grab
\npower by the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) is a \"national
\ntragedy that will never by forgotten by the nation nor by
\nhistory.\"<\/p>\n
\"I think we have to always remain on alert against the latent
\nthreat of a communist revival,\" he added. (emb)<\/p>",
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