Mulyana, friends give up 7-month fight at YLBHI
Mulyana, friends give up 7-month fight at YLBHI
JAKARTA (JP): Mulyana W. Kusumah and three other members of
the defunct executive board of the Foundation of the Indonesian
Legal Aid Institute (YLBHI) said they were giving up their seven-
month-long battle over the leadership of the organization.
The row, following the appointment of Bambang Widjojanto as
executive board chairman in March, has undermined the work and
public image of the foundation, once dubbed the "locomotive of
democracy".
"In respect of our fellow human rights activists, we agree to
stop beating one another," Mulyana said during a farewell media
conference at the foundation's headquarters yesterday.
"We want to help create an atmosphere conducive to the
foundation being able to proceed with its mission," said the
criminologist who has worked for the foundation for the last 15
years.
Mulyana was executive director of the previous board, which
was declared defunct following Bambang's appointment.
The other three who gave up the fight are also longtime
foundation staff: Rambun Tjajo, former director of internal
affairs, Hendardi, former director of communications and special
programs and Benny K. Harman, research department head.
All four were present at the briefing.
They shook hands with Toeti Herati Noerhadi, a member of the
foundation's board of trustees, before leaving the office.
"We are tired of fighting. And we weren't getting anywhere,"
Rambun told The Jakarta Post.
The four however will continue to campaign on human rights
front, saying that they and some friends plan to found a new
organization.
In another sign of reconciliation, they have also asked their
lawyers to drop the lawsuit they filed against the board of
trustees for dismissing them illegally.
It is not clear whether other former members of the board who
have been defiant against the new leadership will continue their
fight. Among them are Luhut Pangaribuan, who heads the Jakarta
office of the Legal Aid Institute, and Amartiwi Saleh, a senior
lawyer.
Toeti Herati said the four men had a contract to work for the
foundation until August 1997. "We will give them proper financial
compensation," she said.
Rambun said the money will be used to found the new group.
He said they had dedicated their services to the foundation
out of genuine concern for human rights rather than for money,
pointing out that all four of them had other jobs.
Mulyana is a lecturer of criminology at the University of
Indonesia, Rambun Tjajo is a lawyer at a private law office,
Benny K. Harman is a journalist, and Hendardi is an engineer.
He did not say whether they have chosen a name for the new
group but stressed that its chief aim is to uphold human rights.
They hope to defend government critics charged with subversion.
Despite the leadership row, the conflicting foundation staff
have continued to work out of the same headquarters since March.
The split surfaced again last month when Ali Sadikin, a member
of the board of trustees, broke into Mulyana's office and removed
documents. Ali's behavior prompted fellow trustee Mochtar Lubis
to resign in protest. (16)