Missing activists file 'still unopened'

JAKARTA (JP): Marzuki Darusman of the National Commission on Human Rights urged police yesterday to probe the disappearance of two non-governmental organization activists early last month.

Marzuki, deputy chairman of the commission, said officers should have taken action as soon as they received reports from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute and the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI).

"They could have moved based on those reports."

Fransisca Sri Haryatni, the mother of Pius Lustrilanang, an activist of Siaga -- a loose association which supports self- styled presidential candidate Megawati Soekarnoputri and government critic Amien Rais -- went to the commission yesterday to ask about the whereabouts of her son. Pius was reported missing on Feb. 4.

Another activist, Desmond J. Mahesa, a director of the Nusantara Legal Aid Foundation, was also reported missing on Feb. 3, a day after he was visited by military intelligence agents, according to his associates.

Sri said that she only knew about the disappearance of her son through the media before being contacted by Pius' friends on Feb. 11.

"I just want to know whether my son is still alive; where he is now or if he is already dead I want to pray for his soul."

She said that Pius last contacted his family a week before being reported missing.

Sri, who arrived here from Palembang Sunday night, was accompanied yesterday by her lawyer from LBH Jakarta, Daniel Panjaitan, and her son's friends.

Soegiri, a member of the human rights commission who received Sri, said the commission would send another letter to the Jakarta and West Java police and the Jakarta and West Java Siliwangi military commands.

Asked whether the commission would repeatedly send the letter if the authorities did not respond, Soegiri said: "We have countless tasks, so we cannot just concentrate on one problem. And we cannot constantly send them letters, it would be far too much."

The commission sent the authorities letters on Feb. 12 and March 5, he said.

Marzuki said the disappearance of the two activists was unusual and it was probably linked to recent social unrest.

"It should not merely be regarded as a political incident because they were trying to make improvements to the social structure.

"We hope that the authority will not only include them in a list of missing people for the sake of statistical notes like the victims of traffic accidents but they should go further and investigate the disappearance." (ind)