Missing in action
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.