Foreign warships sited off of RI waters last May

JAKARTA (JP): Foreign warships were spotted operating close to Indonesian territorial waters when massive unrest hit the country in the days prior to the resignation of former president Soeharto last May, according to Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Wiranto.

Addressing a hearing with House of Representatives Commission I for political and security affairs on Monday, Wiranto said a flotilla consisting of an aircraft carrier and two frigates was tracked on radar as it sailed in the Indian Ocean near the coast of Aceh around the time of the unrest in May.

"Five helicopters (which took off from one of the ships) were seen approaching Indonesian air space near Weh island in Aceh," he said. However, he said radar showed that the five helicopters remained within the area covered by the Foreign Information Region (FIR) Control Station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Over 1,200 people died and more than 160 women were reportedly raped in the massive riots which struck Jakarta and other major cities around the country in May.

Wiranto also confirmed that a number of foreign warships approached Indonesian waters on May 21, when Soeharto announced his resignation, and on the following day. "One French Frigate and three U.S. warships were seen sailing in the Java sea near the Thousand Islands on May 21 and May 22," the minister said.

He said the French frigate was spotted at 11:45 a.m. on May 21, while the three U.S. warships were detected at 9:55 on the following day. He did not elaborate on the implications of the presence of foreign warships near Indonesian waters during those critical days.

Later Wiranto briefed legislators on progress in the investigation into reports of the widespread rape of women of Chinese descent during the riots.

"ABRI is investigating reports that many women were raped but has found no evidence to substantiate these claims," he said.

He conceded it was "logical" that rape and sexual assaults might have taken place during the riots, but said "I doubt there were mass rapes then."

Wiranto said an ABRI investigation had also failed to find evidence that rape victims had been hospitalized or put into special care programs in neighboring countries.

"Officials at the Indonesian Embassy checked with all hospitals in Singapore but there were no reports of rape victims being hospitalized there," he said, adding that similar enquiries in Australia had ended with the same result.

He said ABRI had then invited representatives of relevant institutions and non-governmental organization activists to join a joint fact-finding team which it set up to investigate the riots. "We are still encountering difficulties in obtaining evidence, but we do not want to be blamed... if the investigation shows that no rapes occurred last May," he said.

"The interim results of the investigation will be announced at the end of this month," he added.

Speaking about the ongoing investigation into the abduction of political activists, Wiranto said that ABRI had been unable to discover the whereabouts of 14 activists who are reportedly still missing. "We cannot locate the 14 missing activists through logical analysis. We have to physically find them," he said, dismissing speculation that the activists had died. (imn/aan)