Activists told not to inflate rape claims

JAKARTA (JP): National Police chief Lt. Gen. Roesmanhadi has called on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) concerned with the plight of ethnic Chinese women raped in the May riots to continue to gather evidence to support their campaigns.

However, he said that if they failed to come up with evidence and continued to "exaggerate" their claims then the NGO activists could be charged with spreading rumors.

"They could be accused of (spreading rumors)," he said, as quoted by Antara yesterday.

"They have said they are continuing with their efforts to gather information. Please continue then. But if you fail to come up with evidence and continue to exaggerate what happened then we can charge you for spreading rumors," he said. "We can find the (relevant) articles in the (criminal code)."

He did not name any NGOs, but said one organization that claimed to have information about the rapes and sexual assaults had refused to hand it over to the police for fear that the victims would be exposed or suffer further distress. Roesmanhadi said the excuse appeared to be contrived.

Activists, including those in the Volunteers for Humanity led by priest Sandyawan Sumardi, have said that around 160 Chinese- Indonesian women were gang-raped and sexually assaulted during the May riots.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement strongly condemning "all alleged incidents of sexual assault and rape" and claiming that the government has moved to organize public and private sector investigations of the riots, which also claimed the lives of 1,200 looters who were trapped in burning buildings.

The statement also said that as part of the investigative process, the government had established a task force made up of prominent public figures, senior officials and NGO representatives to collect and evaluate information relating to the incidents.

The task force, led by renowned human right's activist Marzuki Darusman, is expected to shortly make recommendations to the government regarding steps which could be taken to bring the guilty parties to justice.

"The government calls on any individuals or groups who have any information that could support this investigation to come forward and speak to TGPF representatives as soon as possible," the statement said. (swe)