'Haur Koneng' case to be reopened

'Haur Koneng' case to be reopened

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): The provincial council here has
formed a fact-finding team to investigate five murders which took
place five years ago, the council said in a statement on
Wednesday.

The team will investigate the deaths of a Moslem sect leader,
three villagers and a police officer in Majalengka regency, West
Java, in a case which has come to be known as the haur koneng
case after the Moslem sect at its center.

Reports suggest the June 1993 incident, which took place in
the village of Gunung Seureuh in Lemah Sugih district, West Java,
was triggered by a dispute between members of the sect and the
village head.

The ensuing clash between villagers and security personnel
resulted in the death of the sect's leader, Abdul Manan, 27 and a
police post chief. There are different reports of whether the
identities of three killed villagers were all Manan's students
(santri).

The case has been reopened following demands from the Haur
Koneng Advocacy Committee. The group is made up of religious
figures and youths.

In a statement delivered to the West Java Council on Aug. 22,
the committee alleged that security officers handling the case
had violated human rights and demanded that the case be reopened
because there were "indications that the government and the
security forces had manipulated the facts behind it." (43)