Missing in action

The violence accompanying the student demonstrations which have erupted in various cities throughout Indonesia over the past couple of weeks is most certainly to be regretted. It is lamentable that injuries have been inflicted on those involved on both sides -- protesters on the one side and security officers on the other. But while physical anguish and injury are more or less seen as unavoidable, though regrettable, the consequences of such violent clashes, the unexplained disappearance of people in the wake of such incidents, is altogether a different matter.

Sadly, it has to be said that reports of missing persons following clashes between protesters and security officers are not unusual. On the contrary, it is difficult to avoid the impression that such disappearances in the wake of public protests are becoming something of an established phenomenon in this country.

Still fresh in our minds, for example, is the violent clash in Bandarlampung last month when hundreds of students of Lampung University, staging an "action of concern" at their campus, clashed with security personnel. Apart from the many students injured in the incident, human rights officials reported 10 activists later went missing.

Similar disappearances after student protests have also reportedly occurred in Surabaya and Yogyakarta, two hotbeds of current student activity in Java, together with Bandung and Jakarta. The latest reports over the weekend from Yogyakarta mentioned that 14 protesters -- presumably mostly students of Yogya's prestigious Gadjah Mada University -- went missing after clashes with security officers. The Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) said it had so far received 11 reports of missing activists.

Besides the students from Lampung University, students from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University and Surabaya's Airlangga University have also been reported missing. Others include Pius Lustrilanang, secretary of the Siaga association in Jakarta; Desmond J. Mahesa, director of the Jakarta-based Nusantara Legal Aid Foundation; and Haryanto Taslam, a loyal supporter of the ousted leader of the Indonesian Democratic Party, Megawati Soekarnoputri.

The latest wave of disappearances -- although probably still too early to confirm -- occurred in Yogyakarta last Friday, when 14 student activists of Gadjah Mada University were reported to have disappeared after a third day of clashes with security personnel during demonstrations.

While all the cases are reason enough for concern, it must not be forgotten that they are not the first to have occurred in recent history. Rumors that scores of people went missing in what has become known as the Tanjung Priok Incident of 1984 still refuse to die. An unknown number of people reportedly disappeared during the Dili incident of 1991. The fate of a number of people reported missing after the July 27 incident in Jakarta still have not been accounted for.

Under the circumstances it is easy -- one could almost say, natural -- to suspect the state security apparatus of having had a hand in the disappearances. Which is precisely why it is important that the authorities, police and military in particular, do all in their power to help clear up all the cases. In the absence of proof, it is obviously unfair to point a finger at the police and the military. For all we know the people could have gone into hiding, or they may have quietly returned to their families without bothering to report their whereabouts.

Of course, it could also be that some misguided officers did have something to do with the disappearances. In this case, the sternest measures should be meted out to the guilty. After all, the people's trust in our state security apparatus is at stake. Cases of missing activists must be satisfactorily clarified. The guarantee of personal safety, fair treatment and protection by the state are among the most basic rights of every citizen. Surely, in this present time of crisis we can ill-afford to risk losing more of the public's confidence in those entrusted with the well-being of our people.