Activist gives grisly details of torture

Activist gives grisly details of torture

JAKARTA (JP): Human rights lawyer Desmond J. Mahesa broke
silence and overcame fears for his life yesterday when he
recounted his two-month-long ordeal at the hands of his
abductors.

Desmond, chairman of the Jakarta branch of the Nusantara Legal
Aid Foundation, said he was tortured by his captors, who wanted
to extract information about his political activities.

Desmond said he was kidnapped in Jakarta by several armed men
on Feb. 3.

"They pushed me into a Suzuki Vitara and covered my head with
a black bag. Two men flanked me and music was played loudly," he
said.

He said the gun was an FN pistol, but could not clearly
remember what his abductors looked like because his spectacles
broke when he was pushed into the car.

"I don't remember much. They took me out of the car into a
crowded office, then took me into a dark room, covered me all
over with black cloth and put my hands in cuffs."

Desmond said he was only tortured during a three hour
interrogation on the first day of his captivity.

"They covered my eyes and cuffed my hands to a chair. They
administered electric shocks to my feet and head, and kicked and
punched me all over my body," he said.

"They told me to immerse my head in a bathtub filled with
water. Each time I came out to breathe, they asked me to put it
back in again," Desmond said at the briefing held in the
Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) headquarters.

Desmond turned up early last month in his home town of
Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. He is only the second of several
kidnapped activists to have gone public with their ordeal.

His story corroborated the account given by Pius Lustrilang,
who revealed he too had been tortured during a two-month long
period of captivity.

Pius, who departed for the Netherlands to "seek peace of mind"
after he broke silence late last month, has subsequently
addressed various overseas human rights groups abroad and a
subcommittee of the U.S. Congress about his ordeal.

Desmond, clad in a dark checkered shirt, appeared calm as he
told his story to a packed media conference.

He said he would remain in Indonesia to "disclose the truth"
about his abduction and the disappearance of other activists whom
he talked to from his detention cell.

"I will not go abroad. I am ready to testify whenever I am
needed," he said. "I will tell the truth to anyone who is willing
to listen to my story."

He recalled a promise made by Armed Forces Commander Gen.
Wiranto, who swore he would protect those who helped the military
investigate the disappearances. "His guarantee is enough, that
those who testify will be protected. I'm holding on to his
words."

Desmond said he did not meet the other missing activists
because they were kept in different cells, but talked to a number
of them, including Pius, Haryanto Taslam of the Indonesian
Democratic Party, Rahardjo Walujo Djati from Gadjah Mada
University, Herman Hendrawan from Airlangga University, and Yani
Avri and Sonny, also Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) members.

Haryanto has since reappeared, but refused to go public with
the details of his ordeal.

Desmond was accompanied by dozens of lawyers from the
Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras),
YLBHI, the Indonesian Bar Association (Ikadin), and the
Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI)
yesterday.

Munir, a Kontras lawyer, said Desmond and his legal team would
testify about his abduction to the Military Police Corps today.

Munir listed seven people as still missing: Yani and Sonny,
Herman Hendrawan, Bimo Petrus Anugrah, Suyat, Noval, and a male
activist from the Indonesian Islamic Students Association in
Garut, West Java. The latter's identity was not revealed.

A member of the National Commission on Human Rights, Albert
Hasibuan, who was also present at the news conference, said
Desmond's testimony was no longer necessary for the commission.

The commission had already established that Desmond's rights
had been violated by his abductors.

The commission was waiting for the results of a special
investigative team set up by Gen. Wiranto, he added.

Last month, the commission said that the abductions had been
carried out by a well-organized group. (aan)