Activists question charges against NGOs in Irian
Activists question charges against NGOs in Irian
JAKARTA (JP): The claim by an ABRI official that a non-
governmental organization was behind the recent riots in Irian
Jaya has been called into question by local activists.
Aswab Mahasin, who heads the LP3ES research institute on
economic and social affairs, questioned the credibility of the
allegation.
"Local NGOs are patriotic. The suspicion shows there is no
frank communication between NGOs and the government," Mahasin
told The Jakarta Post yesterday.
The charge came from Lt. Gen. Soeyono, the chief of ABRI's
sociopolitical affairs department, who claimed that an NGO used
radio and leaflets to instigate the rioting in Irian Jaya.
The latest rioting broke out in Abepura, near Irian Jaya's
capital of Jayapura. Mobs went on a rampage after security
authorities barred them from seeing the body of Tom Wanggai, an
activist of the secessionist Free Papua Movement (OPM). Four
people were killed in the violence.
Chairman of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation Bambang
Widjojanto also questioned the general's claim on Wednesday.
"NGOs and the government need to hold frank discussions to
erase the suspicions and misunderstandings among them," Aswab
said.
The government, he said, should not be so easily offended by
NGO criticism and should treat their advice as input for making
decisions.
He acknowledged that there are NGO activists, just as there
are individuals in the government, who are not very responsible.
Separately, Susilo Utomo, a social observer from Diponegoro
University in Semarang, said the government should be wiser in
dealing with NGOs.
The government can obtain reliable information from these
organizations on various issues, from land disputes to the
eviction of squatters, he said.
"More and more people turn to NGOs to air their grievances,"
he told The Post. "They don't trust their representatives in the
local legislative councils or government officials."
Although NGOs have close relations with the people, none have
encouraged the people to revolt against the government, Susilo
said.
Chief of the Supreme Advisory Council Sudomo has also stepped
into the polemic regarding the myriad differences between the
government and local NGOs.
Local NGOs, he said, can be broken down into two categories:
those who are critical of the government and those who support
it's policies.
"There are such organizations whose vision is similar to that
of western ones. It is these westernized NGOs which usually have
problems with the government," he said.
Sudomo, a former commander of the government's internal
security agency, said the government should make public the names
of NGOs suspected of disseminating false information. (har)