List of persons missing in riots lengthens

JAKARTA (JP): A construction worker and an ice vendor are among the persons missing since the July 27 riots.

"A woman came and said her husband, an ice vendor, was picked up when he was sitting on the pavement along Jl. Salemba," Dwiyanto Prihartono, a lawyer at the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) said Saturday.

The ice vendor, Kusno, lives in an alley off Jl. Raden Saleh in Central Jakarta.

He and Wahyudin, the construction worker, were among hundreds of bystanders witnessing the rioting on July 27.

The institute is one of three offices registering reports of missing people since the riots.

The other two offices are the headquarters of the National Commission on Human Rights in East Jakarta and the Jakarta Social Institute, a non-governmental organization on urban affairs, also located in East Jakarta.

Wahyudin, a resident of Cengkareng in West Jakarta, was reported missing by his brother.

As of Saturday afternoon, LBH listed 20 missing persons, most of whom were reported to be members of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI).

Wahyudin and Kusno were among the few who were neither party members nor supporters.

Only one person has reported a family member missing to the Jakarta Social Institute.

Rita, a staff member at the Institute, refused to divulge the person's identity.

She would say only that he was not a member of PDI and that a parent had reported him missing.

A group of women calling themselves "The Voice of Indonesian Women" said Friday many women were anxious about missing relatives.

"If they are hurt, are they getting proper treatment? If they are dead, where are their bodies?" Ita F. Nadia, the group's spokesperson asked during an inquiry at the National Commission on Human Rights headquarters, Republika daily reported.

Sekar, another member of the group, said they are working with the Jakarta Social Institute to gather information on missing relatives.

They have also been visiting people being treated at several hospitals, including Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital and the Army's Gatot Subroto Hospital, following the riots. She acknowledged that getting access to the hospitalized people is difficult. (anr)