Kontras counters Wiranto statement on Aceh victims

JAKARTA (JP): Leading rights activist Munir shot back at Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto yesterday for speculating that human remains unearthed recently from mass graves in Aceh could have been victims of the turmoil following the 1965 communist coup attempt.

"It's not possible since none of the victims (of the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party) were buried. All of them were dumped into the sea," said Munir, who is the coordinator of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras).

According to local testimony, he said, the victims in 1965 were dumped into the Kuala Langsa and Ulele seas, respectively off of Banda Aceh and East Aceh.

Munir said there was, so far, no record of the number of victims killed in 1965. He only said that many people were killed by the military in its campaign to quash the communists there.

On Wednesday, Wiranto criticized the National Commission on Human Rights for publicizing its findings on the alleged number of victims of rights violations in Aceh over the last decade without checking with the military first.

Wiranto also said he doubted the military had been responsible for the number of victims stated by the commission. The figures were based only on the remains excavated last week, he said, adding that some of the bones could have been from victims of the communist uprising.

Yesterday, it was Munir's turn to criticize Wiranto. He said the general's statement was "surprising".

"He shouldn't have said that at a time when people are demanding that the government disclose any atrocities committed by the military," he said.

He argued that Wiranto's statement was a defensive reaction and counterproductive to the efforts aimed at unveiling past military atrocities.

"The campaign to reveal alleged abuses committed by the military between 1990 and 1998 in Aceh...is not meant to place the Armed Forces (ABRI) in a corner," Munir said.

"The attempts are part of our respect to humanity," he added.

The National Commission on Human Rights announced Monday that at least 782 people were killed, 368 tortured, 168 reported missing, 3,000 women widowed and between 15,000 to 20,000 children orphaned during the nine years of military operations against a local separatist movement between 1989 and this year.

In 1990, Amnesty International and the Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) said at least 1,000 people were detained and tortured in unknown places in Aceh. Up until 1991, they reported that 2,000 civilians, including women and children, were killed in mass executions or through detention. (emf)