Missing activists returned home safely

JAKARTA (JP): Four agrarian activists missing since Aug. 14 have returned home safely after being abducted by an unknown group, the Committee for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) said on Sunday.

"All of the four men returned to Jakarta on Sunday," Kontras executive Munir told a media conference at the Legal Aid Foundation office.

Munir said the four activists from the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), a non-governmental organization, were resting at their homes, suffering from "mental trauma".

The absence of the four victims at the media conference meant reporters had no chance to ask them about their abduction.

"They told us that they were abducted on that day (Aug. 14) on their way from Plaza Indonesia shopping center to Jl. Kebon Kacang in Tanah Abang," Munir said.

The activists -- Anton Sulton, 26, Idham Kurniawan, 24, Usep Setiawan, 28, and Mohamad Hafiz Asdam, 23, -- were on a hunger strike at the MPR/DPR building demanding agrarian reforms when they were forced by police officers into an ambulance at about 7:30 p.m.

"Police dropped the four at the General Elections Commission (KPU) building on Jl. Imam Bonjol in Central Jakarta, where they then walked to Sogo (department store) at Plaza Indonesia to have dinner," Munir said.

The police had stated that during the MPR Annual Session protests or rallies would not be allowed at the MPR building compound after 5 p.m.

The four activists left Plaza Indonesia toward Jl. Kebon Kacang, Anton with Usep and Idham with Asdam, Munir said.

"Two Kijang vans, which were apparently following the men, stopped.

"Two people got out of one of them, pointed a gun at both Anton and Usep, and bundled them into the van. Both their heads were immediately covered with black hoods. Before their heads were hooded, the victims counted six men," Munir said.

"The same thing happened to Idham and Asdam," Kontras coordinator Gian Moko said.

Short hair

He quoted Usep as saying that the six kidnappers were well- built and had short hair.

Gian said that the victims were then driven around for about three hours, before being locked up in separate dirty rooms, each equipped with steel-barred windows, a toilet and a mattress.

The four were locked up there for three consecutive days but were given food, Gian said.

"The men who gave them food were masked and silent. Throughout the ordeal, the victims were never tortured," Gian said.

"After three days, the four men were driven to different places which none of them knew."

They were questioned about their ideas on agricultural programs, laws and reform, and what they knew about land reclamation, Gian said.

On Saturday, 12 days after being abducted, Usep was given a Garuda Airlines ticket from Yogyakarta to Jakarta, under the name of Umu; Anton received a Garuda Airlines ticket from Semarang to Jakarta, under an undisclosed name; while Idham and Asdam were given Mandala Airlines tickets from Surakarta to Jakarta, both under false names as well.

"On that day, Usep contacted his friend from KPA and us. He gave us details of where to pick him up," Gian said.

Kontras picked up Usep at Terminal II of Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at 8:30 a.m.; Anton at 9 a.m., followed by Asdam and Idham a while later, he said.

When asked whether he believed the activists were kidnapped, Munir said he needed to question the victims further on the matter.

But Gian said he was sure the victims were kidnapped.

"We have military sources who have confirmed the kidnapping," Gian said.

Separately, Jakarta Police spokesman Supt. Muhammad Nur Usman, who also attended the press conference, said he strongly hoped that the victims would file a police report against their kidnappers, and help the police in tracing the whereabouts of the culprits.

Meanwhile, National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) executive H.S. Dillon said the kidnapping was a "serious act of intimidation, possibly by conglomerateurs who did not want their land reclaimed."

"These (kidnapped) activists voiced the concerns of farmers without land. The House of Representatives must look into this matter," he said on Sunday. (ylt)