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)