Govt faces dilemma due to public skepticism: Marzuki

JAKARTA (JP): Human rights campaigner Marzuki Darusman said on Thursday the government faced a dilemma in solving various sociopolitical problems due to strong public skepticism.

"On one side, skepticism could arise from the government's clumsiness in handling problems. But on the other side, if there is a problem which could be swiftly solved, it will raise suspicion that it has engineered a resolution," Marzuki told reporters after meeting Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security Feisal Tanjung at his office in Central Jakarta.

Marzuki, who is deputy chairman of the National Commission on Human Rights, was referring to the murder of more than 100 people, including religious teachers, over the past two months in East Java and last week's killing of 18-year-old Marthadinata, who was associated with the Volunteers for Humanity.

The government has been criticized for its slow response to the East Java killings, while the Jakarta Police have been suspected of fabricating the motive behind Marthadinata's murder, which many believe was politically motivated.

Police arrested a suspect the day after the murder and have maintained that economic motives lay behind the crime.

"This is a problematic situation for the government," Marzuki added.

Thursday's meeting was also attended by, among others, Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto and Attorney General Andi Muhammad Ghalib.

During the meeting, Marzuki said, the issue of national reconciliation was also raised.

"The government thinks that what the public wants regarding reconciliation is to replace the administration and form a presidium.

"While the government's version of reconciliation is an approach to list various problems and then work together with the public, we'll look for a solution," he said.

Prerequisites to national reconciliation were earlier raised by human rights campaigners and observers. They said unaddressed public grievances should be disclosed before a reconciliation was possible. The government has recently been facing public demands to look into outstanding grievances such as the 1984 Tanjung Priok incident in which hundreds were said to have been killed in a clash with security forces.

President B.J. Habibie gave the go-ahead on Sept. 4 for the establishment of a National Reconciliation Team to head off a rising threat of disintegration and separatism in the country.

Minister of Justice Muladi said at the time the team -- comprised of Cabinet ministers, human rights activists and other public figures -- was expected to unite all of the nation's forces, encourage people to turn past adverse experiences into bitter but valuable lessons for a better future and bridge gaps between conflicting parties in the society.

The President appointed Muladi as a liaison official between the government and the other institutions. The government will be represented by Feisal, Wiranto and Muladi.

Marzuki has said that national reconciliation was needed because the country's unity was being threatened by marked suspicion among different elements of the population and public distrust of the government.

Marzuki said on Thursday that the rights body would meet Habibie on Friday to discuss various human rights issues, including cases of missing people. (byg)