Rights abuse rife during campaign<\/p>\n
SEMARANG (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights voiced
\nits concern yesterday over the rife violation of basic rights
\nduring the first 13 days of the election campaign.<\/p>\n
Commission member Bambang W. Suharto said the unruly street
\nrallies organized by the United Development Party (PPP), Golkar
\nand Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) had spread terror
\nthroughout communities.<\/p>\n
\"Campaigners have banged on motorists' cars, honked their
\nhorns, revved their motorcycle engines and shouted at
\npedestrians. All that has scared people,\" he said in Semarang.<\/p>\n
Traffic laws most commonly breached included riding
\nmotorcycles without wearing helmets and carrying more passengers
\nthan officially allowed, he said.<\/p>\n
The campaign started on April 27 and ends on May 23. Street
\nrallies are formally banned but party leaders admitted they could
\nnot control people on the streets.<\/p>\n
Police in Jakarta and other major cities have tried to
\ndiscipline campaigners seen blatantly violating traffic laws but
\ntheir measures have not been effective.<\/p>\n
Bambang said it was high time the authorities found a way to
\nmake election campaigns less terrifying, Antara reported.<\/p>\n
The commission has received reports from the three parties and
\nthe public concerning the violation of campaign rules, he said.<\/p>\n
It will look into the reports next week and will check them in
\nthe field.<\/p>\n
Bambang said the commission was especially concerned about
\ncampaigners who took children to rallies even though they knew
\nthe minimum age to participate in electoral activities was 17.<\/p>\n
Police in Jakarta said they detained nine people, seven men
\nand two women, during a street rally Thursday, for parading a
\nmock coffin on a Kijang's roof.<\/p>\n
Among those detained for questioning was the famous playwright
\nRatna Sarumpaet. The demonstrators drove around South Jakarta in
\nthe van with \"Democracy\" inscribed on the coffin.<\/p>\n
Eyewitnesses said the van began its city tour at around 2
\np.m.; the police stopped it about six hours later.<\/p>\n
City Police Spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said the
\nprotesters were detained because they used something \"unusual\",
\nnamely the mock coffin, linen cloths and umbrellas commonly used
\nin burial ceremonies.<\/p>\n
In an interview with private TV station Indosiar before she
\nwas arrested Thursday, Ratna said the protesters meant to
\nenliven the election campaign and warned the public against
\ntrampling on the principles of democracy.<\/p>\n
Ratna leads the theater company Satu Merah Panggung. One of
\nher works, Marsinah, which delves into the life of the eponymous
\nlabor heroine murdered in 1993, has been banned.<\/p>\n
Senior government officials campaigned in various places in
\nCentral Java yesterday.<\/p>\n
At a rally in Salatiga, Siswono Yudohusodo, the minister of
\ntransmigration, called on Golkar members to consider PPP and PDI
\nsupporters as \"partners\" and treat them accordingly.<\/p>\n
\"Never consider them the enemy,\" he told a gathering of some
\n60,000 Golkar supporters.<\/p>\n
On several occasions during the campaign in Central Java and
\nYogyakarta, Golkar and PPP supporters have engaged in street
\nbrawls that developed into attacks on public properties.<\/p>\n
Siswono said that Golkar supporters should be wary of
\nirresponsible people's efforts to set one party's cadres against
\nthose of other parties.<\/p>\n
\"Golkar cadres should be careful of people who want radical
\npolitical transformation through revolution,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Siswono promised Golkar would remain committed to seeking
\ngreater democracy.<\/p>\n
B.J. Habibie, the state minister of research and technology,
\ntold a gathering of 20,000 Golkar supporters in Surabaya
\nyesterday to be careful of accusations that corruption was
\nwidespread in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"Without being supported with concrete data, such allegations
\nshould be disregarded. We have to be careful and wise in
\nresponding to such allegations,\" Habibie said.
\n(har\/wah\/nur\/imn\/jun)<\/p>",
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