Gus Dur to solicit support for truth seeking committee
JAKARTA (JP): Muslim figurehead Abdurrahman Wahid departed for Germany on Sunday for eye surgery, and to solicit international support for his planned Commission for Truth-Seeking and National Reconciliation.
Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, will announce and lead the commission when he returns on Feb. 25. He told The Jakarta Post before departure from the Soekarno-Hatta Airport that the team would comprise 10 international leaders and 25 local ones.
Among the world leaders he planned to invite to sit in the team were Nelson Mandela, Vaclav Havel, Lee Kuan Yew, Oscar Arias Sanchez and Jimmy Carter.
He also planned to invite domestic figures including Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, Megawati Soekarnoputri of the Indonesian Democratic Party in Struggle (PDI Perjuangan), former minister Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, Julius Cardinal Dharmaatmadja of the Indonesian Bishops Council, J.M. Pattiasina of the Indonesian Communion of Churches, and Dili Bishop Carlos Felipe Ximenes Belo.
"Kwik Kian Gie of PDI Perjuangan has stated his wish to join the team," Gus Dur said.
When asked whether anyone would be invited from the Muhammadiyah Muslim organization, the chairman of Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) said "none".
Omar Halim, a former deputy director of the Europe Division of the Department of Political Affairs of the United Nations, will be the executive director of the commission. Abdurrahman said Halim was now working on the details for the establishment and responsibilities of the commission.
Economist Hartojo Wignjowiyoto will be Abdurrahman's deputy. Several government officials would also be invited to sit in the commission, but Abdurrahman declined to name them.
The commission was to be announced after Abdurrahman's return.
"It is not wise to declare it at this time," he said.
He explained the commission was planned to address concerns for many cases of rights abuse that have gone unsolved for years. Some were not investigated thoroughly, he said, citing as examples the Tanjung Priok incident and the military atrocities in Aceh.
The team, once established, will be tasked with digging out the truth of the cases and fostering reconciliation among the parties involved, he said.
He conceded that the public at the moment tended to blame all violence on the Armed Forces, given its poor record of rights violations in the past. Passing the blame, however, was not needed, he said, adding that the important thing was to help all elements in society settle their grievances peacefully.
"Reconciliation means we admit that those things have happened but also (take care) that they not fracture our national unity in the future," he said.
The real goal of the commission, he said, was to ensure that the violence of the past would not be repeated.
The results of the commission's work would be made public, he promised.
"Soeharto's case will not be directly discussed by the commission because it is still recent," he said of the charges of power abuse leveled by many at the former president.
Abdurrahman left on Sunday with an entourage of 11 people including his wife Nuriyah, his daughter, his brother and private doctor Umar Wahid and also his private secretary Al Zastrow Ng.
Abdurrahman will undergo eye surgery at a hospital in Luevuen, Belgium, his doctor said.
However, the Muslim leader also planned to spend his time visiting some prominent figures and Indonesian people in Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium.
He was scheduled to meet with members of the Germany chamber of commerce and officials and politicians in the three countries. He also expressed the hope he would be able to meet with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. (01)