Patience fading for military probe: Kontras

JAKARTA (JP): Public patience is fast disappearing for the results of the Armed Forces' investigation into the kidnappings of scores of activists, an independent advocacy group said yesterday.

The Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) called on the government to speed up the investigation and announce the findings.

The longer the delay, the greater would be the erosion of domestic and international confidence in the government, Kontras chairman Munir told reporters.

The delay would allow the kidnappers to remove traces of their work and destroy evidence, such as the building where the victims were detained and the equipment used for torturing the activists or even threatening their lives.

Kontras held a media briefing yesterday to listen to the testimony of Feisol Riza, a student from Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta who went missing between March 12 and April 25.

Feisol is the latest of several kidnapping victims who have only recently come forward to relate their ordeal to the public.

They delayed their disclosure out of fear for their lives, underscoring the threats made by their abductors before their release.

Like others who testified before him, Feisol said he was tortured by his abductors as they questioned his activities in Democratic People Party (PRD).

Kontras has handled 23 cases of missing activists. So far, nine have returned and 14 are still unaccounted for, including six who went missing at the peak of the political unrest in May.

Munir said all the cases appeared to be connected with major national political events like the 1997 general election, the People's Consultative Assembly General Session in March and the resignation of president Soeharto in May.

In all the cases, members of the security apparatus appeared to be involved, Munir said.

He said Kontras' own investigation pointed to the involvement of the Duren Sawit military subdistrict, the East Jakarta military district, the Jakarta Military Command, members of the Military Police, the Jakarta Police and the National Police.

"We believe that their involvement is real. They should be questioned," Munir said. (ivy)