NGOs complain to rights body of harassment

JAKARTA (JP): Activists from local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) complained about continued harassment from "government officials" yesterday.

Maria Pakpahan, a member of one of the 16 NGOs lodging their complaint with the National Commission on Human Rights, said some of the harassment amounted to violations of civil rights.

"What we've been experiencing clearly are violations of our basic rights, such as rights not to be tortured and to be presumed innocent," the member of the International NGOs' Forum for Development told commission members Marzuki Darusman, Clementino dos Reis Amaral and Asmara Nababan.

Following the July 27 riots blamed on Democratic People's Party (PRD), a small leftist youth organization, the authorities have cracked down on members of other NGOs.

Tati Krisnawaty, the executive chairperson of the Solidaritas Perempuan women's organization, said that 20 people in civilian clothes claiming to be police officers raided the organization's headquarters in Cipinang Cempedak, East Jakarta, Monday.

The men ransacked all of the rooms and seized documents and some office equipment, Tati alleged.

"The plain-clothed police officers detained three employees. One of them, a woman, was interrogated in a violent way and, as a result, she's deeply depressed," Tati charged.

Another NGO alleged that one of its members was arrested, and later "tortured", after mingling with a crowd in front of the Central Jakarta District Court trying the lawsuit of deposed chief of Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) Megawati Soekarnoputri against the government and her political rivals.

"He was forced to say that he is a member of the PRD. He was detained for one month," said Billah, a representative of the organization.

The activists called on the commission to set aside some funds to establish a crisis center for people who were physically or psychologically traumatized. "The center could also serve as a safe haven for people wanting to evade arbitrary arrest," the activists said.

Marzuki said that the police should be the first institution to which people go in search of safety. He called on the activists not to be overly alarmed because the crackdown was not "a normal situation".

He conceded that NGOs are currently in an "uncomfortable relationship" with the government, marked by blocked political communication. He suggested more meetings between the NGOs and government agencies.

Another complaint was lodged by lawyer Bambang Widjojanto of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute. He accused government investigators of attempting to forcibly elicit information on some suspects from their own lawyers.

"This means that the government has pushed us to violate our profession's ethics," he said. He cited the Attorney General's Office's decision to make him a witness against his own client, PRD chairman Budiman Sudjatmiko, as a case in point.

The NGOs were also protesting about negative labels slapped on some of them by the authorities. Organizations which advocate people's rights in land disputes, for instance, protested the government allegation that they were conducting "political activities similar to those of the PRD".

The activists also refuted the allegation that they were involved in violent action to further their objectives.

"The NGOs don't promote any form of violence," said Emmy Hafild, the executive director of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi).

"If we educate people to be more aware of their rights, it doesn't mean we instigate or mastermind violent riots," Emmy said. "Moreover, we are organizations which do not seek to make a profit." (16)