Beijing tells Indonesia to act over ethnic violence
Beijing tells Indonesia to act over ethnic violence
BEIJING (AFP): China warned Indonesia's chief of police Saturday to stop prevaricating and take action against those responsible for atrocities committed against ethnic Chinese during civil unrest in May.
"Chinese all over the world are waiting for justice to be done in Indonesia so that the souls of the victims can rest in peace," the official China Daily said in an editorial.
"But instead of actively digging for evidence and hunting for culprits, Indonesia's police chief, Lt.Gen. Roesmanhadi accused non-governmental organizations of exaggerating reports of rapes and sexual assaults, and even threatened to charge them for spreading rumors," it said.
Ethnic Chinese businesses and homes were specifically targeted when mobs rampaged in Indonesia in May, allegedly killing more than 1,000 people.
According to human rights groups, some 168 ethnic Chinese women were gang-raped and the UN Development Fund for Women has said the attacks were well-organized.
"Indonesian police have been making repeated statements that the have received no reports of rapes, turning a blind eye to the gory pictures and testimonies," the editorial said.
It warned that threatening to charge human rights groups for rumor mongering "can only bring fear to the victims and prevent them from giving testimonies since rape victims are often reluctant to report such crimes to the police."
China's foreign ministry has in the last month toughened its stand on Jakarta's handling of the riots, calling on at least three occasions for speedier investigations to punish those responsible.
At about the same time, China's state-controlled media began for the first time reporting the full extent of the anti-Chinese violence.
On Monday, the government even allowed unauthorized demonstrations by Beijing University students outside the Indonesian embassy here.
Although the embassy was closed for Indonesia's independence day, four students handed over a four-point protest letter to a diplomat demanding a full investigation into the violence, an end to laws discriminating against the ethnic Chinese and measures to prevent any reoccurrence.
"The improper stance of the Indonesian police will only hinder the investigation process and delay the rightful solution to the tragedy," the newspaper said.
Indonesian President B.J. Habibie last week called the attacks on and rapes of ethnic Chinese "a stain on the face of the nation" and said he would seek firmer measures against looters.
"As a civilized and religious nation, we condemn these barbaric acts," Habibie said in his first State of the Nation address before parliament.