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.