Special Force defendants deny torturing activists<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Four of 11 members of the Army's Special Force
\n(Kopassus) charged with abducting political activists last year
\ndenied on Tuesday claims of torture, and also disavowed
\ninvolvement in a slew of unresolved abductions.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Col. Susanto questioned them on the three
\nissues of torture, the abduction of activists other than those
\nwho have returned and whether the defendants received orders from
\nhigher-ranked officials apart from their superiors, all of which
\nwere not listed in the prosecution's case.<\/p>\n
They said they only received orders from the first defendant,
\nMaj. Bambang Kristiono.<\/p>\n
Col. Susanto said the issue of torture was a source of public
\ndebate.<\/p>\n
\"I never saw or heard screams of pain from the activists,\" one
\nof the defendants, Capt. Untung Budi Harto, said.<\/p>\n
He said he was mostly assigned to guard outside the
\ninterrogation room at the Special Force's headquarters in
\nCijantung, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
A defendant involved in the interrogation, Capt. Dadang,
\ninsisted activists were treated well.<\/p>\n
The prosecution claimed Maj. Bambang acted on his own
\ninitiative to set up what was dubbed a \"Rose Team\" of the 11
\ndefendants to arrest \"radical individuals\".<\/p>\n
Besides Untung, defendants Capt. Fauka Noor Farid, Capt. Djaka
\nBudi Utama, and Capt. Dadang Hendra Yudha said they had \"picked
\nup\" nine activists in a \"persuasive manner.\"<\/p>\n
The activists were Pius Lustrilanang, Haryanto Taslam, Feisol
\nReza, Raharjo Waluyo Djati, Aan Rusdianto, Nezar Patria,
\nMugianto, Andi Arief and Desmond J. Mahesa.<\/p>\n
From 23 people abducted since April 1997, the nine activists
\nnamed have returned to relate tales of torture by their captors.
\nAnother was found dead and 13 others are still classified as
\nmissing.<\/p>\n
Capt. Untung said he only knew of the activists who are still
\nmissing from media reports.<\/p>\n
The trial has been widely derided as a farce because of the
\nthree outstanding issues of the prosecution not including the
\nissue of torture, the listing of only nine abductees and failure
\nto explore the possibility of orders from high-ranking officers.<\/p>\n
At the time of the abductions, the Special Force's commander
\nwas Lt. Gen. (ret.) Prabowo, who has admitted involvement in the
\nabductions before an Officer's Honor Council.<\/p>\n
In response to Col. Susanto's question why a soldier was
\ninvolved in abductions, Capt. Dadang eventually responded he was
\n\"carrying out the task of the state\".<\/p>\n
He said \"picking up\" activists was part of a special task of
\nthe Special Force termed \"studying, investigating and
\nmobilizing\". Col. Susanto said use of \"picking up\" implied the
\nconsent of the party taken into custody. (01)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/special-force-defendants-deny-torturing-activists-1447893297",
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