Wanted labor activists surrender<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A labor activist who has been on the run since
\nApril 14 for allegedly masterminding a workers' riot in Medan was
\nspirited from his hiding place to Jakarta on Thursday.<\/p>\n
He was turned in by his colleagues to the Armed Forces (ABRI).<\/p>\n
Amosi Telaumbanua, chairman of the Medan chapter of the
\nIndonesian Prosperous Trade Union (SBSI), was escorted by other
\nSBSI executives to the ABRI's Intelligence Agency on Thursday
\nevening at ABRI's headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Besides Amosi, two other SBSI Medan leaders also surrendered.
\nThey were Soniman Lasau and Fatiwanolo Zega.<\/p>\n
Tohap Simanungkalit of the SBSI Central Executive Board said
\nthat Amosi and two colleagues turned themselves in after they
\nreceived assurances from the authorities that they would not be
\ntortured.<\/p>\n
Tohap said SBSI was committed to a respect of the law and had
\ntherefore taken the difficult decision of bringing Amosi over
\nfrom Medan to Jakarta to hand him to the authorities.<\/p>\n
The choice of Jakarta, rather than Medan, was based on SBSI's
\nexperience in the past that detainees here were treated better
\nthan in other cities and their interrogations stuck to official
\nprotocol.<\/p>\n
\"Let the Indonesian people become living witnesses to what
\nkind of treatment he and his colleagues would be subjected to,\"
\nTohap said.<\/p>\n
Amosi was transported by road to Padang, West Sumatra, before
\nflown to Jakarta on Thursday, according to SBSI sources.<\/p>\n
SBSI, while acknowledging that it was behind many of the
\nworkers' strikes in Medan early this month, denied that it
\nencouraged workers to use violence.<\/p>\n
The military singled out SBSI for the riots that left one
\nbusinessman dead and caused extensive financial damage as shops
\nand factories were ransacked and looted and cars overturned when
\nmore than 20,000 workers ran amuck following a protest.<\/p>\n
The city was tense for at least one week but life has now
\nreturned to normal.<\/p>\n
YLBHI<\/p>\n
The SBSI headquarters in Jakarta and the Indonesian Legal Aid
\nFoundation (YLBHI) had been involved in the plan to hand over
\nAmosi for the past week.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Tempo news weekly from his hiding
\nplace, Amosi said he was willing to surrender and account for his
\nactions but feared that he might be tortured.<\/p>\n
His trip to Jakarta on Thursday was even kept secret from the
\nlocal executives of SBSI and the Legal Aid Institute in Medan,
\nwho led the negotiations with the military and police earlier and
\nexpected to deliver him to the authorities.<\/p>\n
The transfer was originally planned yesterday in Medan but on
\nthe appointed hour they told the police they could not find him.<\/p>\n
\"We lost contact yesterday (Thursday). We couldn't find him at
\nhis hiding place,\" said Rekson Silaban, a local SBSI executive.<\/p>\n
He even suggested that Amosi might have been abducted.<\/p>\n
YLBHI yesterday announced that it planned to provide the legal
\ncounseling for all the SBSI detainees and other workers arrested
\nsince the riot.<\/p>\n
The foundation also protested at the authorities' decision on
\nSunday to bust the union's second anniversary meeting in Jakarta.<\/p>\n
No permit<\/p>\n
Yesterday, Jakarta Police Chief Moch. Hindarto defended the
\nban saying that the SBSI should have applied for a permit for any
\ngathering involving more than five people, \"even for their
\nanniversary.\"<\/p>\n
SBSI has been challenging the government's policy of
\nrecognizing only the All Indonesian Workers' Union (SPSI) to
\nrepresent workers in disputes with managements.<\/p>\n
The government has declined SBSI's application to register as
\na trade union saying that the organization was politically
\nmotivated and did not truly represent the workers' interests.<\/p>\n
Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief, when asked whether the
\ngovernment would move to outlaw the SBSI, responded yesterday
\n\"What's there to ban? It was never recognized in the first place.
\nSBSI doesn't exist.\"<\/p>\n
Speaking to reporters after meeting Vice President Try
\nSutrisno, Latief said the government has been going all out to
\nensure that workers' rights are observed.<\/p>\n
\"I think the Minister of Manpower has been the forefront in
\nfighting for the workers' interests,\" said Latief, who was a
\nsuccessful businessman before joining the cabinet last year.<\/p>\n
He added that his office was always open to workers who wanted
\nto air their complaints. (emb\/rmn\/rms\/bsr)<\/p>",
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