Govt 'too slow' to rescue RI hostages

Govt 'too slow' to rescue RI hostages

Tony Hotland and Ivy Susanti, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Stunned by reports of the killing of an Indonesian held hostage
by Philippine pirates for over a month, the House of
Representatives slammed the government for failing to make rescue
efforts.

Speaking after a hearing with the Commission for Missing
Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) on Friday, House
Commission I overseeing foreign affairs said the government was
slow and had been discriminatory in its response to the case.

Ahmad Resmiadi, 32, was reported to have been killed on Friday
by his kidnappers after the Indonesian government missed a May 11
deadline to surrender 200,000 pesos (US$3,684) in ransom.

Ahmad, along with Erikson Hutagaol and Yamin Labuso, was
kidnapped by five armed Philippine pirates on March 30 while
aboard a Malaysian tugboat Bonggaya in the Philippines' Tawi-tawi
waters.

Family members later shared their story with Kontras after
getting a cold response from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs'
director for protection of Indonesians Ferry Adamhar.

"The ministry said they already knew about the abduction, but
they were preoccupied with the Asian-African Summit and flatly
promised to inform the foreign minister," said Kontras
coordinator Usman Hamid.

Usman said family members had reported the case to the
Philippine Ambassador to Indonesia and even sent a letter to
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

House Commission chairman Theo L. Sambuaga said the House
would immediately contact the Philippine parliament to seek ways
to increase the pressure to help free the remaining hostages.

Theo criticized the foreign ministry for making inadequate
rescue efforts compared to previous kidnapping cases, such as the
recent kidnapping of two journalists in Iraq, that took only days
to resolve.

Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa said the Indonesian
embassy in the Philippines had made contact with the kidnappers,
and foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda had also written to the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) separatist group in the southern
Philippines.

"When (the Indonesian office there) asked about the hostages,
we were informed that they needed medical supplies. But there was
no statement if any hostages had been killed or not," Marty said.

He blamed geographic and security problems for hampering
rescue efforts. He also affirmed that Indonesia would not concede
to any demands for ransom.

"There have been communication problems. The kidnappers sent
short text messages saying that they often didn't get signals,"
he explained.

Marty asked the owner of the tugboat to share the
responsibility for getting the hostages released. He also
dismissed criticism that the ministry was discriminatory in
handling the case.

"We don't have any intention to be discriminate in our
service. We share our concern with the public, and we're very
serious in our work to free Indonesian hostages.

"But we don't think it's necessary to announce our steps to
free the hostages. It could endanger the hostages, so we don't
think such public announcements are prudent," he asserted.