Missing activists' kin visit Amien, Megawati

JAKARTA (JP): Relatives of missing activists met with leading opposition figures Amien Rais and Megawati Soekarnoputri on Thursday to seek moral support.

Accompanied by the independent Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the relatives vowed to push the Armed Forces (ABRI) to locate the missing people.

"We consider the visit as a mandate to seek justice," Amien, who is also leader of the newly established National Mandate Party, said at the party's secretariat in South Jakarta.

Amien promised he would soon write to President B.J. Habibie and Minister of Defense and Security/ABRI Commander Gen. Wiranto urging them to give serious attention to finding those still missing. "We must help Munir (Kontras' coordinator) politically because it seems that these missing persons, including activists, have been forgotten.

"I hope that they are still alive, but if they are already gone, it is (the government's) responsibility to notify the relatives about how they died and where they have been buried."

Munir said it was impossible for Kontras to work alone, and that it was imperative to work with "leading civil forces to fight the use of violence in the country," he said.

Earlier the relatives met with Megawati, the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party, at the latter's new office in Lenteng Agung, South Jakarta.

"I can really feel your sadness and discontent because I was also a victim of political violence.

"Maybe I just can say that you should have unlimited patience and never give up hope of finding those activists," Megawati, who was ousted from the party leadership through a government-backed congress in Medan two years ago, said.

Kontras reported that at least 24 people have gone missing since April last year. Nine resurfaced after several months and disclosed abductions and torture during detention.

Relatives have said that of those still missing not all are activists. Amid mounting public pressure to find them, ABRI announced the alleged involvement of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) members in the abductions in July.

Wiranto then discharged former Kopassus chief Lt. Gen. (ret) Prabowo Subianto and removed two senior Kopassus officers from active duty last month for their involvement in the abductions.

The investigation team is completing the dossiers for the 11 other suspects. Team leader Maj. Gen. Syamsu Djalal, has yet to mention any deadline for submitting the dossiers to the court.

"Insya Allah (God willing), the dossiers will be submitted to the court-martial immediately upon their completion," he told reporters on Thursday after meeting with former abducted activist Pius Lustrilanang, who gave the general details of his ordeal.

Enough

Pius said after the meeting that the investigation team already had enough evidence to bring Prabowo and the 11 Kopassus troops to trial.

He cited his sketches of the map and of the features of the cells, where all of the people kidnapped had been kept, including himself, as evidence of Kopassus members' involvement.

Pius, who went missing on Feb. 4, was the first activist who revealed details of his abduction to the public following his release on April 3.

Pius also reiterated his confidence that there were more parties involved in the abductions. "Kopassus could not have done the kidnapping alone, without support from other related territorial military officers," he said. He did not elaborate but had said previously that he would only reveal the other parties he suspected to Syamsu's team.

The investigation team has confirmed that the Jakarta Military Command and local military districts were also involved in the abductions of some of the missing people.

Asked about his plan to file a lawsuit in a civilian court against Prabowo, Pius said he was still consulting his lawyers on the urgency of the measure. (imn/byg)