A mystery unraveled

A mystery unraveled

An act of terror that seemed destined to become a permanent
mystery is at last beginning to unravel. It appears that a number
of individuals belonging to the Army Special Forces (Kopassus)
were responsible for the abduction of political activists. This
much has been admitted by the Armed Forces (ABRI) through its
Spokesman Maj. Gen. Syamsul Ma'arif, when he relayed reports
submitted by an ABRI fact-finding team.

From accounts given by kidnapped activists who have since been
released, we know that the abductors targeted people who held
radical political views. In other words the abductors had a
distinct political agenda. In ABRI, as in any military force,
subordinates act only on the orders of superior officers. It can
therefore be concluded, without much difficulty, that this
political mission belonged to an officer of senior standing.

If the suspected kidnappers are brought to trial then the
military court must seek to uncover the political agenda which
they were serving, and to whom it belonged. The point to remember
here is that any person capable of going to such great lengths to
score political points must be desperate for power and high
office. The inquiry should therefore seek to determine whether
the Kopassus officers who have been detained were the masters of
the game or merely the pawns of even bigger players.

We are grateful to Minister of Defense and Security/Armed
Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto for demonstrating such a high
degree of honesty and commitment to justice. A case, which in the
past would have assuredly remained unresolved, has been laid bare
by Wiranto for all to examine.

This display of integrity deserves appreciation, even though
the truth which will come out may hurt, and is like a refreshing
drop of water in what many of us perceive to be a desert of
injustice.

-- Media Indonesia, Jakarta