Calls grow for probe into disappearances
Calls grow for probe into disappearances
JAKARTA (JP): Despite the detention of several Army special
force (Kopassus) officers for the abduction of activists, leading
opposition and human rights figures intensified their demands
yesterday for a thorough investigation to discover the brains
behind the crimes.
Abdurrahman Wahid, Marzuki Darusman and Amien Rais all
demanded that the investigation not stop at its present juncture
but reveal the mastermind of the abductions.
"Armed Forces (ABRI) leaders are being more transparent ...
Yet, they are still unable to reveal the mastermind and only get
'small-fry' officers to take the responsibility," Abdurrahman,
chairman of the 30-million-strong Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) Moslems
organization, said in a written speech to a seminar on national
unity.
Marzuki, deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human
Rights, pointed out that a thorough investigation could help
repair the Armed Forces' battered image.
"ABRI will regain people's confidence if it discloses the
whole truth of the case," he told reporters during a coffee break
in the seminar.
However he suggested that those currently being charged with
the case should be brought before the Honorary Military Council
instead of a court martial.
"A court martial will only try the suspects who are described
in the dossiers and not the mastermind. A meeting of the Honorary
Military Council on the other hand will be able to reveal the
whole truth of the abductions," he said.
In Semarang, Central Java, Amien Rais said investigations
should not stop with the seven special forces suspects.
"Long before the fact-finding team was established, people had
already identified Kopassus members' involvement in the
abductions of the political activists. ABRI now needs to go
further," Amien, chairman of the 28-million-strong Muhammadiyah
Moslems organization, told reporters.
The commander of the National Military Police Corps, Maj. Gen.
Syamsu Djalal, disclosed Wednesday that at least seven members of
the Army special force (Kopassus) were involved in the activists'
abductions.
Syamsu did not dismiss the possibility of questioning former
Kopassus commanders who were in charge at the time of the
abductions.
Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen.
Wiranto said yesterday that the provisional results of the Armed
Forces' investigation showed procedural violations by the seven
Kopassus members, as they went beyond their superiors'
instructions.
"The Kopassus instructed an immediate operation to unveil a
number of radical activities, which were obviously harmful to
various government programs and the people's safety," he told
reporters after briefing instructors of the Agency for the
Propagation of Pancasila (BP7).
"In the implementation, the Kopassus members acted beyond
appropriate procedures, including committing indisciplined acts
and measures exceeding the superior's instruction," he said.
Wiranto, however, declined to comment on the possibility of
questioning former Kopassus chief Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto in
connection with the ongoing investigation. (har/imn)