'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)