Calls mount for probe into mastermind of abductions

Calls mount for probe into mastermind of abductions

JAKARTA (JP): As pressure to fully investigate the abductions
of political activists mounts, President B.J. Habibie has
stressed that Armed Forces (ABRI) members involved in the
kidnappings would be dealt with in accordance with the law.

The Armed Forces has an Honorary Council that would handle the
case, Habibie, who is ABRI's supreme commander, said Saturday.

"Let's give ABRI the chance to handle the case," he told
journalists after opening a cheap market at the National Monument
(Monas).

Separately, several senior scholars and activists intensified
their pressure Saturday on the government to uncover the
mastermind behind the abductions.

ABRI announced last week that five members of the Army's
special force (Kopassus) had been detained and another two were
under intensive interrogation for their alleged involvement in
the kidnappings. Antara has reported that the seven were a
general, two colonels, a major, a captain and two privates.

Former Kopassus commandant-general Lt. Gen. Prabowo Subianto,
son-in-law of former president Soeharto, said Friday he was ready
to take responsibility for the kidnappings if it is found they
were perpetrated by the Army's elite force.

Adding weight to the pressure for an objective investigation
on Saturday were former police chief Gen. (ret) Awaloeddin
Djamin, human rights lawyer Trimoelja D. Soerjadi and political
analyst Mochtar Pabottingi.

Awaloeddin suggested that both ABRI commanders and the Armed
Forces fact-finding team should bury political and psychological
barriers in their efforts to unravel the case.

He said that unless they could eliminate the barriers, the
ongoing investigation would end up catching only the small fry,
who would only receive light punishments.

"Anyone believed to be involved in the incidents should be
taken to court," he told The Jakarta Post. "If those already
caught are the executors, then their superior(s) who gave the
orders should also be tracked down."

Trimoelja called on Armed Forces commanders to have the
political will to let the fact-finding team conduct a thorough
investigation.

"Should the fact-finding team find enough evidence that Lt.
Gen. Prabowo Subianto was involved, he must be brought before a
military tribunal as well," Trimoelja told the Post.

Trimoelja, the 1994 recipient of the Yapusham Human Rights
Award, said the fact-finding team should be given full authority
to continue its investigation until it discovers the mastermind
behind the abductions.

"The Kopassus chief must have received the instruction from
higher-ranking officials," he said.

He said that the Armed Forces would be able to win back the
people's trust only if the investigation finds everyone involved.

Dissolved

The Surabaya-based lawyer also demanded that Kopassus be
dissolved if, as an institution, it was involved in the
kidnappings.

"Kopassus' involvement, if it's true, is unacceptable and
unforgivable. It must be dissolved. Kopassus members who were not
involved in the kidnappings could join other military units," he
said.

Mochtar Pabottingi said that ABRI should not put the blame for
the abductions on mere individuals.

"Instead of putting the blame on 'procedural violations' or
'individuals', let's admit such barbaric and primitive acts were
inherent in a system that had succumbed to violence."

He was referring to the autocratic administration under former
president Soeharto who ruled for 32 years with an iron hand and
often had little respect for the supremacy of law.

If the system was not corrected, such "barbaric and primitive"
kidnappings and forced disappearance by the military would happen
again in the future in the way they had repeatedly occurred in
the past, Mochtar said.

In this era of reform, the prosecution of the Kopassus members
should be held openly, he said.

"Prabowo should be brought to court. It is possible that he
could later be exonerated if he is found not guilty. Then maybe
the order (to conduct the kidnappings) came from someone else,"
he said. (imn/prb/aan)