Emil calls on govt to set up independent commission

JAKARTA (JP): Gema Madani, a group headed by former minister Emil Salim, has called on President B.J. Habibie to set up an independent commission to investigate causes behind the country's recent social unrest and alleged human rights violations.

The call highlights growing public impatience for the government to uncover the truth behind alleged human rights violations despite an ongoing investigation launched by the Armed Forces.

"An independent commission is needed to investigate and provide transparent reports over the causes of past social unrest and to further proceed with legal action," Emil Salim said in a letter sent to Habibie on Saturday. Copies of the letter were made available to the press the same day.

Emil cited last month's riots and sexual assaults in Jakarta and the Central Java city of Surakarta, along with human rights violations in Aceh, Lampung, East Timor and Irian Jaya, as cases warranting immediate explanation.

Emil said the group made the appeal because it believed the government and the Armed Forces were moving too slowly in investigating the incidents.

"The government has yet to officially explain the causes behind the social unrest, as well as the fate of sexual assault victims," he said.

"The Armed Forces has made no statement on the riots and the victims," he added.

Emil, a senior economist and three-time cabinet minister, said such an explanation was needed to quiet public fears created by the riots and to repudiate rumors damaging the government's and Armed Forces' image.

Gema Madani suggested that the commission be comprised of representatives from the National Commission on Human Rights, groups which have already been working on the cases, non- governmental organizations, riot victims, the government and the Armed Forces.

Safety

A member of Gema Madani told The Jakarta Post that it was also important for the government to ensure the safety of activists currently working to help riot victims and to uncover the truth behind the unrest.

"Some activists called us (Gema Madani) and said they had received phone calls threatening their lives and those of their family members," Agus Purnomo, a member of the group, said.

President Habibie has continually called on the public to allow the government, particularly the Armed Forces, to conduct a thorough investigation into the riots and other human rights abuses.

Major cities in the country were hit by wide-scale riots last month.

Jakarta was paralyzed for several days as major shopping centers and other commercial establishments were looted or burned.

Chinese-Indonesians were a main target of attacks. Reports indicate that many women were also sexually assaulted.

Official military reports say the death toll from the four days of riots was 499 in Greater Jakarta alone.

The National Commission on Human Rights, however, estimates the total at 1,188.

Activists and other prominent figures have suggested that the riots were sparked by an organized entity.

The riots in Surakarta inflicted economic losses amounting to billions of rupiah and at least 12 people were found dead in a burned department store.

Calls for an immediate investigation into reports of killings and vandalism in a number of Irian Jaya villages allegedly committed by military personnel were raised by a delegation of Irian Jaya students late last month.

The reports claimed that between December 1996 and October 1997, a number of innocent civilians were killed and many human rights violations occurred when a military unit was operating in the Mimika area in Fakfak regency, Irian Jaya. (imn)