Kontras, LBH to sue rights body

JAKARTA: The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is facing legal action for allegedly giving false information to the public on last January's murderous ethnic conflict in Central Kalimantan.

The suit will be jointly filed by the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), and the Legal Aid Institute (LBH) of Jakarta.

Komnas HAM, in a report on its investigation into the pogrom perpetrated by indigenous Dayaks on Madurese migrants in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, concluded that there had been no gross violation of human rights.

Ori Rahman of Kontras and Erna Ratnaningsih of the LBH said in a joint statement that Komnas HAM had condoned the killing and torture of Madurese people, and their eviction from Central Kalimantan.

"Komnas HAM has accorded impunity to those guilty of crimes against humanity, and therefore has become implicated in the crime," they said in the statement.

Thousands of people, mostly Madurese, were killed in bloody attacks in January. --JP