Emil calls on govt to set up independent commission

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)