Lopa sees violation against Mulyana

Lopa sees violation against Mulyana

JAKARTA (JP): The Secretary General of the National Commission
on Human Rights said the authorities may have violated the rights
of human rights campaigner Mulyana W. Kusumah when it accused him
this month of having past communist links.

Baharuddin Lopa however told friends and supporters of Mulyana
in his office that the commission could not assist him in the
case.

"I suggest Mulyana take his case to court," Lopa said.

Seven human rights campaigners, headed by H.J.C. Princen, met
with Lopa yesterday to ask for the commission's intervention.

The military this month said Mulyana in the 1960s was a member
of a youth organization which was closely linked to the now
outlawed Indonesian Communist Party. Because of this link, the
military said Mulyana had lost his right to vote in the 1997
general election. The military said the decision was
irreversible.

Mulyana has been in the news this past month, first for his
activities as secretary general of the newly set up Independent
Election Monitoring Committee, and later for the accusations
leveled against him. He has denied of ever joining any outlawed
organization.

Princen argued that the authorities had confused the
organization that Mulyana joined with another leftist group with
similar name. "They have no evidence to show that Mulyana was a
member of the red one," he said during the meeting with Lopa.

He suspected that the real intention of the military's public
disclosure was to discredit the poll watchdog which had been
gaining wider acceptance nationwide.

In a statement, Princen and his colleagues said the practice
of accusing one of being a communist had been used in the past by
the government to suppress its critics.

Accusations of past communist ties have been known to end many
people's career, both in and outside the government.

The military and the government had opposed the establishment
of a separate election monitoring committee outside the formal
election structure.

Baharuddin said the National Commission on Human Rights would
not address the Mulyana question directly but he would be willing
to assist the activists in contacting the military to arrange for
a meeting. Another alternative is for Mulyana to take his case to
the court, he added.

Princen and his colleagues said they have written to the
military to clear up the issue but their requests have not been
answered. (16)