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