Kontras wants BIN chief removed

Kontras wants BIN chief removed

JAKARTA: The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of
Violence (Kontras) demanded on Thursday that the government
remove A.M. Hendropriyono from his post as chief of the State
Intelligence Agency (BIN) because of the gross human rights
violations he allegedly committed in the 1989 Talangsari incident
in Lampung.

Kontras reminded the government that Hendropriyono, who was
then Garuda Hitam Military Resort Commander in Lampung, was
allegedly responsible for the 1989 bloody clash between the
military resort's officers and local Talangsari village
residents, which led to the deaths of dozens of locals.

The demand was made by Kontras in conjunction with the
commemoration of the 13th anniversary of the clash, which
occurred on Jan. 7, 1989.

A lawsuit has also been filed in an Indonesian court against
the President over a presidential decree on the appointment of
Hendropriyono as chief of BIN. -- JP