Rights body to check on missing people<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The National Commission on Human Rights will
\nassign an investigation team to compile information on the
\nreported disappearances of several activists.<\/p>\n
After a four-hour meeting attended by all but one of its 25
\nmembers, the commission said it would need at least another week
\nbefore issuing a report on the matter. Additional teams would be
\ndispatched to gather and check facts on the reports of missing
\npeople.<\/p>\n
The Commission's deputy chairman, Marzuki Darusman, said
\nyesterday the team would be sent to verify reports of
\ndisappearances in cities including Bandung, West Java;
\nYogyakarta; Surakarta and Semarang, Central Java; Surabaya, East
\nJava; Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi and Lampung, South Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Commission members Saparinah Sadli, Soetandyo, Aisyah Amini,
\nClementino dos Reis Amaral and Charles Himawan will depart for
\nSurabaya and Ujungpandang in the next few days, he added.<\/p>\n
Teams have already left for Lampung and Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The public has been closely watching this issue, and the
\ncommission must verify whether the missing students and activists
\ncould be categorized as voluntary or involuntary disappearances,\"
\nMarzuki said.<\/p>\n
\"We need to make further investigations before coming to the
\nfinal conclusion.\"<\/p>\n
He said the commission may meet with two prominent activists,
\nDesmon J. Mahesa and Pius Lustri Lanang, who were missing since
\nFebruary but returned home earlier this month.<\/p>\n
\"But we will let the two settle down first so it will not
\ndisturb them because we understand they have been through a
\nperiod of trepidation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Several vocal government critics and activists have been
\nreported missing in the past month in the wake of widespread
\nstudent rallies.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, at the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation office in
\nCentral Jakarta yesterday, the parents of Haryanto Taslam and
\nYani Avri arrived to seek support for investigations on the
\nwhereabouts of their missing children.<\/p>\n
Haryanto, an Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) executive loyal
\nto Megawati Soekarnoputri, went missing on March 9, two days
\nafter checking into a hotel in East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Yani has been missing since participating in a PDI rally
\nduring the campaign period in May last year. His mother, Tuti,
\nsaid Yani was detained by police because he was wearing a pro-
\nMegawati shirt.<\/p>\n
Foundation secretary Munir said the organization had sent a
\nletter to Armed Forces Chief Gen. Wiranto requesting an
\nappointment to discuss the disappearances.<\/p>\n
The foundation has also received reports of seven other
\nmissing people: Airlangga University students Bimo Petrus and
\nHerman Hendrawan, 27; Gadjah Mada University student Andi Arief,
\n27, who disappeared in Lampung; two other Gadjah Mada University
\nstudents, Faizol Reza, 24, and Abdul Rahardjo Waluyo Djati, 28;
\n11 Maret University student Suyat; and a public transportation
\ndriver, Sonny, who, like Yani, disappeared after a PDI rally
\nduring last year's election campaign. (byg)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/rights-body-to-check-on-missing-people-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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