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)