NGOs raise question over laborer's death
NGOs raise question over laborer's death
JAKARTA (JP): Legislators buckled to activists' demands
yesterday to question the police's finding that suicide was the
cause of death of a female labor activist in the West Java town
of Sumedang.
Legislators from the House of Representatives (DPR) commission
VI overseeing manpower affairs promised to discuss the matter
with the West Java Police Precinct.
Some 25 activists from 19 non-governmental organizations
grouped in the "Solidarity Committee for Titi Sugiarti" pressed
their demand for an "objective" investigation into the death of
Titi Sugiarti, a worker at textile factory PT Kahatex.
Unhappy with the police probe, they have conducted their own
investigation into Titi's death, and have concluded that she was
murdered because of her role as a labor activist.
They alleged that perpetuating the mystery of her death was
tantamount to military intervention in labor disputes.
The body of the 23-year-old was found floating in a waste pond
on the factory grounds. Doctors who performed an autopsy found
blood oozing from her mouth, nostrils and eyes.
National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman said earlier this week
that the police investigation had established that suicide was
the most likely cause of Titi's death.
He said the police narrowed the cause of her death down to
three possibilities: falling into the pond accidentally,
committing suicide and murder. He added that the investigation is
continuing.
Ninik, a fellow laborer who claimed to be her confidant, told
the commission that suicide was "highly unlikely" because Titi
had never discussed any pressing personal hardship.
Commission member Oedyanto Hadisoedarmo from the powerful ABRI
faction said he would look into the possibility that the local
police had acted hastily, as the activists suspect, in
determining the cause of her death.
He said the nation did not want to see another major
controversy following last year's death of labor activist
Marsinah in East Java, which put labor conditions in Indonesia
under international scrutiny.
The debate over Titi's death is intensifying with the
continuing trials of suspects in the murder of Marsinah, who has
since become a martyr for the Indonesian labor movement.
The Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) has implicated the
military in Marsinah's death.
Evidence
Committee coordinator Agus Edi Santoso charged that the police
investigation was not supported by sound evidence because the
crime scene in the pond had been ruined and the autopsy was
unable to satisfactorily explain the cause of death.
He said Titi's death curiously came at a time when she was
planning to organize an industrial action to demand that PT
Kahatex raise workers' wages, allow for vacancies and insure its
workers.
"The company sees the workers merely as a means of production
and treats them accordingly," Agus said.
The committee also urged the manpower minister to review the
government's labor policy, which he said put workers at a
disadvantage and triggered the mounting labor problems.
He pointed out that PT Kahatex was among numerous companies
defying the government's regulation requiring them to offer the
standard minimum wage and let workers exercise their rights.
The committee also urged the National Commission for Human
Rights and the DPR to take the initiative and conduct an
independent investigation into Titi's death. (pan)